The Galaxy's Greatest Warriors
by Ebanu8
Summary: War. Time and again, the Thedosian Empire had been forged in the crucible of war, always emerging victorious at high costs, now standing as an intergalactic power with two others as staunch allies. But when a mass relay at the edge of their space is discovered, what will they find? A new enemy, seeking to steal their secrets, or perhaps new allies? Amarthathor will find out.
1. Prolouge

**A/N: I am finally back from my hiatus, and officially bring you the rewritten story(which is just changing the content of already existing chapters).**

 **Enjoy and review.**

 **Prolouge**

Space.

The endless black void dotted by a sea of white dots of burning gas that we call stars.

Within it exist thousands of planets; solid, habitable planets, along with gas and metal giants smaller than their counterparts. And from the habitable planets, countless species of living beings have grown in numbers and constantly evolved to adapt to the environment of their homeworld.

As they begin to advance in technology, they are either prepared or unprepared to make contact with other spacefaring species, depending on their mentality or technological marvels at their disposal.

What they are certainly less prepared for, would be an entire race of genocidal machines who establish a devious trap that continiuously dooms countless races that fell prey to it.

No one knows who were their creators, nor their original purpose, but one thing is certain, they are an endless blight on the galaxy with their perverted macinations causing galactic societies to fall on the inside out.

It seemed like any who encountered the dreaded machines were destined to fall and fade from hisotry.

But destiny was never fate set in stone. Rather, it branched out into many possible outcomes, simply waiting for one person or an entire community to seize the opportunity and change the fate of themselves or their society, or both.

And it proved true for the people of Thedas, who, more than twenty-eight millenia ago were on the brink of ending themselves through their own actions.

The insidious Chantry who had established it's faith on the blood of innocent elves and by shackling the minds of the ignorant masses, it had established a slave army by indoctrinating the minds of young children they had abducted, teaching them that magic was infernal, and should be erased from the face of the planet.

Yet, they had met their end; a gruesome end at the hands of one elf, who was by no means an ordinary elf. Not even an elf, in fact.

At first, people had assumed that he was no better than the city elves or the dalish, as he exuded an air of complete laziness, uncaring of the work he had to do as the inquisitor, or Herald of Andraste as many had taken to calling him at the time, but he proved them wrong in the most dramatic fashion thought possible.

He paved the way for a revolution that shook the world to it's core. He united the various races of Thedas against any enemy army that dared fling itself into his territory, who only became victims of his surprisingly astounding tactical genius that far surpassed that of the commanders on the enemy side.

But there was one moment, one defining moment that forever engraved his name in history.

And that... was the sacking of Val Royeaux, and the razing of the Grand Cathedral.

It was the most shocking moment the entire world had both witnessed and recorded in history, as no one, not even - daresay – the dalish elves ever think of such an action against the Chantry, despite their non-obvious corruption.

But the deed had been done, and immediately, dalish clans from all over the continent of Thedas had joined the revolution, and the once great nation of Tevinter had fallen to both the external threat of the Dragon's invasion force, and the civil war from within.

And some time later, they would enter the galactic age and be uplifted from the restraints of primitive technology, albeit earlier than expected due to interstellar forces that nearly brought the end of their existense.

 **A/N: This prolouge was far shorter than any chapter I've previously done, but still, quality over quantity.**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	2. Legends of the past

**Chapter one: Legends of the past**

9:42 Dragon

The breach is sealed by Inquisitor Emmanuel Sardothien. The Venatori's plans are foiled, and their leader, Corypheus is finally dead thanks to a fade rift created by a mark on the Herald's hand.

Immediately afterwards, a full-out war breaks out between the Orlesian Empire and the Inquisition. Extremely paranoid and untrusting, the Empire and Chantry also declare war on the dwarves, elves, qunari, and Ferelden, forcibly drawing them into the conflict as well.

It only served to aggravate relations between them, causing them to become enemies of the Chantry and siding with the revolutionary forces, who then form the Freedom Alliance.

Despite the uneasiness of the different leaders forming the alliance, Emmanuel proves his worth on the battle field once more, and the loyalist templars, who still side with the Chantry, suffer humiliating defeats one after another as the alliance forces encroach on Orlesian territory, retaking former elven territory and giving it back to the dalish clans, who graciously accept the offer, though it was mainly because Emmanuel approached them.

City elves desert alienages and flourish to the Dales, settling down as permanent citizens.

9:43 Dragon

This year is the year the Orlesian Empire crumbles, as alliance forces ruthlessly eliminate the Val Royeaux garrison and burn the Grand Cathedral to the ground.

Out of fear of being destroyed, what remained of the Empire sent a delegation to negotiate a ceasefire. However, their hopes are dashed when the Inquisitor gives the envoy his answer.

"You built your empire on betrayal and deceit. What makes you think you will not reap what you sow?"

The next day, the alliance forces launch a massive assault on the last remnants of Orlesian soil, killing any chevalier who stood in their way and sacking the once great architectural wonders to ruin.

Once the last garrison falls, the Inquisitor himself storms the residense of Empress Celene, only to find another woman in her place. She revealed herself to be Mother Julia, leader of a fanatical movement known only as the True Chantry. A separatist faction, they betrayed their former clerics as they turned on them, and seizing the throne by assassinating Empress Celene and seizing power.

When the information is revealed to the public, the uproar is immediate. Soldiers all over the world are tasked to find and kill any who are members of the True Chantry, in response to the betrayal and the death of the newly-appointed Divine Dorethea II.

The old Chantry attempts to try and bring the public under their control, but are killed by an unknown assassin who eludes detection of the various authorities.

Qunari forces withdraw from Thedas and head back to Par Vollen for reasons unknown, prompting Emmanuel to increase border patrols and strengthen his navy.

All conquered Orlesian territory is hereby declared Ferelden territory, making Ferelden the great growing power in the whole continent. King Alistair grants the city of Val Chevin to the Dragonkin, who hereby rename it to Oploicrin.

Many do not know whether to take relief or be more anxious, but one thing was for sure, Orlais ceased to exist.

9:44 Dragon

A letter of urgency is sent to Inquisitor Emmanuel, informing him of a dead Quinari spy being found in Oploicrin.

Investigations immediately begin, revealing vital information that the dead qunari was a spy. It elicts great concern among quinari retainers in service to both Emmanuel and the rest of the draconian warlords, who in response support the Inquisitor with anything relevant and crucial to the investigation efforts.

During the investigation, an elven spy is captured and revealed to be working under the Qun, smuggling wine barrels containing gaatlok powder to place in the nobles' residenses, and Emmanuel quickly informs the elven government of the matter.

Unexpectedly, but not surprisingly, the newly formed Woodland Covenant sends only a few of their agents to aid, since they are still trying to restore their numbers.

Further investigation reveals intact eluvians in use, magical mirrors that can transport the user to another location with an active eluvian, and that Qunari forces were using them to coordinate a sabotge attempt on the human governments.

With only the Inquisitor and his personal friends and retainers available, they manage to chase and eventually corner the quinari forces led by the Viddasala, who tells them that Solas is an agent of Fen'harel.

IIOII

"You have heard me, Inquisitor," The Viddasala told the white haired elf in front of her, uttering his title in a mocking and hateful tone, "Solas is an agent of Fen'harel."

However shocking the information may be for those who knew Fen'harel as a god of misfortune for the elves, the Inquisitor simply did not show any surprise on his face, and neither did his companions, if they had any surprise to show on their faces.

Which, in actual fact, they had none, for they knew Solas's true identity all along.

"As if we did not know that," Emmanuel, the christened white haired elf countered in his deep, baritone voice.

Wordlessly, he drew his bow and fired an arrow, an iridescent shaft of concentrated magical energy penetrating through the armor and flesh of one of the viddasala's personal guard.

Emmanuel Sardothien was one of the last remaining dragons who still held a pact with their supreme god, Sossedov, and one of the even fewer bearing the markings of Azug which covered his entire right arm and the entire right half of his face and shoulder, granting him untold power that surpassed even that of the ancient elves.

He wore steel black armor of ancient draconian design, slimmed down to the point it hugged and accentuated his masculine, elven form. A sleeveless coat of midnight black linen danced in the strong gust, an insignia of a dragon's head breathing fire visible in white outlines.

What was the most noticeable about him though, were his slender yet strong features bearing strange eyes; eyes that bore slited black irises, that lay on golden amber pupils which contrasted heavily with a background of pitch black sclera. They bore a steely gaze that penetrated through even the hardiest of facades, causing a few of the Quinari soldiers to be unable to divert their eyes from his.

Hefting his obsidian black katana, he held it horizontally, pointing the tip at the Viddasala before him with a rather blank expression.

Snarling with rage, she ordered a protion of her remaining forces to hold off their enemies, whilst she and the rest dealt with Solas.

Unfortunately for them, they were facing some of the best veterans Thedas had to offer, and they unwittingly numbered their days as they met the cold, black blade of a katana wielded by the infamous 'Demon Inquisitor'.

He was a whirlwind-no, he was death incarnate itself, mercilessly killing any who stood in his way with brutal efficiency and godlike speed, his companions dispatching the rest of the cadre of quinari warriors, leaving the eluvian accessible.

"My lord, what shall we do now?"

The voice that posed the question to the inquisitor was Yagen, nicknamed Yag the Loyal by many of his surbodinates. Standing at an average 6 feet tall for normal Qunari, his silver hair was cropped backwards and barely touched the bottom of his neck, his features were chiseled and relatively young, his sky blue eyes bearing a steely, piercing gaze.

He wore black padded leather armor adorned with gold trimmings and the insignia of a dragon's head breathing fire, the insignia of the 'Elven Oddball Warlord'; a rather ironic title bestowed on him given his unimaginable success and surprising ability to get along with any personality, no matter the issues he had. The armor that Yagen was wearing was only gifted to those who proved himself or herself both loyal and competent, and they were handpicked by the Shogun himself, as Emmanuel prefered to call himself.

And as of now, he was faithfully following his sovereign lord, beckoning him to give the order he would follow, despite the fact he was fighting his own kind.

His lord did not bother turning around to address his question, not that Yagen was bothered by it, and mouthed one sentence.

"We go find Solas," he paused to ensure everyone present heard his words, "And put an end to this nonsense once and for all.

Wordlessly, they nodded their agreements, and without fear and doubt leashing their minds, they passed through the magical mirror, its reflective surface rippling as they pass through the only passageway to find their beloved fade expert.

IIOII

The feeling of ice cold water danced off his skin, traces of the energies of the eluvian still lingering on his armored, masculine body.

He took a moment to breathe the air and survey his surroundings; gone was the cold, harsh mountainous landscape where freezing, biting winds would sting bare skin if one was not careful. Now lay an entire landscape of ancient ruins lying under several patches of vegetation, the air fresh and uncontaminated by the smells of freshly spilt blood and rotting flesh.

His left hand flared in pain once more; excruciating and agonising, it only worsened with every minute as his mark grew more and more unstable, but Emmanuel harshly quelled the unforgiving sensations coursing through his arm, schooling his expression into a neutral one.

If Dorian was correct, the unstable energies fluctuating wildly in his hand like a maelstorm would eventually erupt into an explosion capable of atomising an entire world into nothingness, erasing any trace of it's existense, and that Solas was by far the only option to find any hope of stabalising the already dangerous glowing scar.

This all translated into one sentence: They had to find Solas. Fast.

"Careful now, the mark's becoming more unstable by the minute," Said Dorian Pavus, son of Magister Halward Pavus and close friend of Emmanuel, obviously.

Wasting no time, the Inquisitor and his cadre of twelve companions followed closely behind, maintaining wariness for both potential enemy ambushes and the brightly flaring mark on the Herald's hand.

The maze of dessicated ruins and thick forestry was by no means an ordinary obstacle to overcome, as they constantly ran into thick foilage obstructing their line of sight and movement, causing the Inquisitor to vehemently curse about his God cursing him with bad luck for life and that he felt the forest was trying to make fun of him, even when his life is threatened with death.

Only managing to prolong his life by constantly discharging fade energies from his hand, the party pushed onward, driven on by both a sense of concern and companionship for Emmanuel and a wish to not see the world destroyed, uncaring of how many would try to stand in their way.

When they passed the first kilometre of ground, they were immediately met by an opposing quinari force of at least thirty-eight. A paltry and ineffective force against a group of the best war veterans Thedas had to offer.

Dispatching the ambushers with the same brutality he had shown many of his previous enemies, they were taken down in less than two minutes, with plenty of time to spare in giving chase to the Viddasala and her remaining forces, but even with such time on their hands, it was considerably shortened by the Inquisitor's mark flaring once more in brilliant flashes of sickly green light, further fueling their urgency to find Solas.

Emmanuel swore that he would find Solas, not just to erase the mark from his hand, it was to fufill a promise made to the fade expert's love.

Amelia Bartholomew, a woman from the same world as Sebastian Sardothien.

Sebastian was a thousand-year old dragon sent to the world called Earth when he was still an unborn baby held in his mother's womb by his, and by extension Emmanuel's father when Emmanuel was only seven, bereaving him of both his parents at an early age.

The elder Sardothien sibling certainly could not fathom living in a world where magic was considered a mere fantasy, figments of imagination created by many to explain scientific concepts that were not clearly understood by even the greatest of geniuses, and where only humans populated it's surface.

But Sebastian's time on Earth had ceartainly taught him many things, and he put what he learned into action.

When he became Emmanuel's head Scholar, or Scientist as he so persistently christened his job, he paved the way foward to many technological advancements.

Within months since the Inquisition was created, he pointed out many flaws in certain aspects of technology that few did not undertsand or had not bothered to. He had been able to reveal the secret to producing gaatlok powder, and actually came up with versions of a weapon called the flintlock more sophisticated than what the Qunari were capable of, along with making tremendous improvements to siege equipment and transportation systems.

However, science was not Sebastian's only strongpoint, as he proved an equally experienced commander on the front lines, skillfully plotting strategies to outmaneuver the enemy and executing them in motion.

But the one trait the thousand-and-seven year old dragon liked about his brother the most?

His willingness to acknowledge his faults and improve from his mistakes.

And it was through this willingness that he had come so far in his research and aided the Inquisition in scoring no small number of victories alongside the rest of his commrades-in-arms and allies.

And it was through that same willingness... that he had managed to find his long lost family.

Alongside Elith'dal, their beloved sister, they had come together to seek Solas and finally end the nonsense about Solas not belonging to their society, as the Sardothien family.

As for Amelia? In her society, she was an absolute nobody, uncared for by her so-called friends and treated like trash. When she came to Thedas, it had become the most grueling trial in her life, having to contend with seeing death at every isolated corner of the continent and racism taken to an entirely new level.

Needless to say, she had found love in the form of an elven apostate who was originally Solas, the foremost fade expert and most knowlegeable about it's denizens.

Even with the discovery that Solas was not as he seemed, she still loved him, and would not give up on him no matter what anyone else thought.

The party had caught sight of a sizeable Qunari force entering through another eluvian, no doubt catching on to Solas's whereabouts.

There was only one course of action on their minds...

And they charged straight for the qunari.

IIOII

"Teth a! Bas!" One of the Qunari agents alerted in his native language, bringing their attention to an approaching group of enemies.

They did not need to ask about who was approaching. Snarling with rage, the Viddasala ordered her troops to temporarily halt their chase, whilst she and the remnants of her paltry task force move through the eluvian.

This only served to fuel Emmanuel's irritation further, who used the bubbling energies of his anchor to open a fade rift, disintegrating two unlucky Qunari soldiers until nothing of their existense was left behind.

The others simply moved to kill any standing in their way, not stopping for simple mercies or leaving them to flee. One by one, the Qunari fell to either a metal blade cutting their flesh, a magical spell, or an arrow embedded into their necks or hearts.

With all of the chasers barring their way dead, the way was open for them to pursue.

They passed through the eluvian, it's ancient magic transporting them to yet another location.

The second they passed through the ancient gateway, however, it collapsed and closed behind them, it's originally shining, iridiscent rippling surface darkening into an unnatural pitch black, giving only a reflection of the endless void.

The same greenery and dessicated ruins greeted them once more, only to be shocked at what else they find.

More than two dozen quinari were petrified, turned into lifeless stone statues whilst hoisting their weapons in an offensive stance; no doubt, it was the work of magic, but unusually powerful magic, only capable of casting by powerful magi like the Tevinter magisters or the dragons.

Or in this case, probably surviving ancient elves.

"Ebasit-kata. Itwa-ost." A familiar accented voice intoned not far from their location.

Hearing the voice, Emmanuel and his retinue of companions quickly rushed up the ruined stairs, darting past the dozens of statues surrounding them.

And they found the Viddasala hefting a javelin in her hand, aiming it directly at the almost unfamiliar figure before them...

And her attempt met with utter faliure, one that cost her very life as she suffered the same fate as the rest of her soldiers.

With the last of the Qunari strikeforce dealt with, Emmanuel beckoned for the rest to follow him, motioning for their weapons to be sheathed as he finally recognised the scent of one of his closest friends.

The suit of forest green elven armor decorated with a fur pelt draped on the shoulders made him a little unnoticeable by looks, but the smell would never change.

For it was Solas who lay before them, or Fen'harel to be exact.

Alas, the moment had come. The moment when Solas would be finally reunited with his closest friends.

Although in the case of Sebastian, he would have to be careful with what he wished for.

When Solas turned to face his friends, the first thing his mind registered was Sebastian's gauntleted fist connecting with his face, brusing his delicate skin with a harsh black mark and nearly dislocating his teeth from his jaw.

Varric and Cassandra nearly rushed to restrain Sebastian, but his elder brother blocked them with an outstretched arm, allowing him to settle whatever issues he had with the ancient evanuris.

"And exactly why did you do that?" Solas inquired while nursing his swollen cheek.

"Only God knows how much Amelia understood why you left her alone these past two years, and how much she loved you despite everything that happened." Sebastian said, the anticipated tone of anger absent from his voice.

Solas simply smiled at his answer; he now understood why a dalish elf had the guts to marry Sebastian Sardothien in the first place, in spite of the dragon-in-human-form's rowdy and coarse attitude.

As he saw him offer a hand, Solas graciously accpeted the helping hand as he stood up, wincing in pain as he remembered his painful cheek. Exactly why did he do that?

"Sorry about that," Sebastian apologised in a non-apologetic manner as he healed the wound with a brief spell, "But I don't want you lamenting in self-pity for not being able to help the elves before."

Yes, he was absolutely right, Solas realised. It would do no good to lament simply because his people were in their current state because of his inability to help them. Instead, he would work with the Sardothien family and restore them, and at the same time, bring down Tevinter, the slaver country that had brought the elves low and oppressed all under it's rule.

And he would not run any longer. Love was not a weakness. It was never a weakness, not even for the feared King of the Wolves. He would face his love and embrace it, in the form of a human policewoman known as Amelia Bartholomew.

He would fight, and triumph.

Over his greatest enemies and worst fears, within and without.

A great scream of pain echoed throughout the landscape, alerting the party that time was up for Emmanuel.

Or it was, had it not been for Sebastian's quick decisiveness by grabbing the marked arm with his left hand and-

And barely moments from screaming in pain as his left arm dissolved in a swirl of fade energies, permanently gone for good; no amount of magical regeneration would help to restore something whose existense was permanently erased.

Emmanuel struggled to open his eyes, his senses still dulled from the constant pain he endured on his way.

The hand, he remembered, what the hell-

His left hand was perfectly fine, but Sebastian...

He quickly ran to his side, investigating him for any signs of danger.

He was safe, thank Sossedov, but his arm, the arm-

It was gone. Permanently gone. It became apparent to him now.

Sebastian had sacrificed a limb to save his brother from certain death.

And it was a sacrifice he would never forget.

IIOII

9:45 Dragon

It is the year where war sparks anew, as Tevinter faces a civil war with a revolutionary force led by Dorian Pavus, who has learnt his tactics and skills from many debates with the Inquisitor.

Even though many find the revolution hopeless, Dorian's resolve never falters, and is boosted whenever he communicates with Emmanuel via communication crystal.

The revolutionaries officially name themselves the Minrathous Liberation Movement, and composed of dissident Tevinter civilians, freed Elven slaves and like-minded tevinter Mages, quickly began to seize control of a few small cities to gain a foothold against the ruling government.

Despite the former Imperium's best efforts to quell what looked nothing more than a rebellion in the magisters' eyes, it quickly spirals out of control, as coalition forces quickly take more than half of Tevinter with many factors influencing their victories, including well-planned ambushes, a huge majority of lower-class citizens filling up their ranks, and hit-and-run tactics constantly wearing down the Imperial army, with reinforcements from Ferelden and the Inquisition constantly pouring into the countryside

At the same time, Emmanuel Sardothien officially marries Annabel Trevelyan, the latter's mother and sister vehemently opposing the marriage. However, they are quickly overruled by Annabel's father and brother, who clearly state that she was marrying the Inquisitor and that she made her choice.

Oren Cousland, survivor of the massacre at Highever marries Josephene Montiliyet officially, when in truth he actually married both Sera and Josephene, much to the humour of his friends.

9:46 Dragon

The revolution finally ends in Tevinter with the Coalition's victory, and Dorian having appointed himself as President of the newly-established Republic of Tevinter, with Minrathous as his capital city.

Delmalrith Sardothien is born.

Silondrei Sardothien is born.

Jason Cousland is born.

Immediately, surviving Imperial loyalists and Venatori remnants quickly organise a rebellion to take back their country, only to be assassinated by agents of the Republic.

Many are unsure whether the new government would truly reform Tevinter, given it's previous Totalitarian nature, but Dorian promised and delivered, when he sends an envoy to establish good relations with the Inquisition and the various dragonflights. The latter's surviving population establish the Draconian Collective in an attempt to restore their diminished numbers.

Trade is declared open and unrestricted in Tevinter, though many remain wary of the country.

9:47-9:70 Dragon

These two decades see relations between the various countries of Thedas and Tevinter gradually improve over the years, with elven culture being mostly restored and stock prices reaching an all-time high.

With the aid of the few Grey Wardens of the Ferelden order, the last two archdemons are killed with aid from a few of the most elite dragons sent by the Collective. For the first time in history, the darkspawn are declared truly extinct, and the last remaining traces of the taint are purified by the draconian sacred waters.

For the first time in history, the dwarven kingdoms have all been united and the deep roads clear of any infestation, paving the way for a full reconstruction of previously abandoned dwarven cities and thiags.

A dwarven delegation opens its borders to the rest of the world for the first time since the beginning of the first blight, with tons of dwarven goods being traded all year round.

A cure is quickly formulated for the grey wardens and templars who broke away from the chantry. Based on the sacred waters' properties, a potion is made to eliminate the taint and the craving for lyrium present in all templars.

In the year 9:50 Dragon, the first College of Magi is established, and it's purpose is to experiment with magic and formulate new spells that would prove useful in either the battlefield or at home. The old Chantry is immediately outraged upon discovery of the school, but they are forced to accept that their power base was completely gone due to betrayal, and so keep it to themselves.

The years 9:51 to 9:70 see a trumendous increase momentum in technological research, giving birth to improved construction techniques, better ships being built and the first flying machine being able to carry a few dozen people across the Nocen Sea from Tevinter to Seheron.

The year 9:52 Dragon sees an Inquisition exploration fleet landing in unknown lands and making first contact with a new species called the dark elves. They have silver hair and dark skin, and thrive in harsh conditions that are found in close proximity of a volcano, although they are discovered to not be a nomadic race.

Despite having great potential for dark magic, they are by no means immortal, and only live about 130 years before perishing.

Arrangements are made to promote relations with the dark elves and grant them trading rights.

The first video camera's are invented, allowing people to capture detailed images of every single thing, prompting leaders to issue certain restrictions on the usage of cameras at certain places.

A year later, yet another First Contact is made with another foreign species called the orcs. A greenskined race of humanoids with strong physical features, their religion is mainly worshipping the elemental spirits that keep the balance of nature. Their average lifespan is projected to be around sixty to seventy years.

The orcs initially prove hostile, but it is discovered that they were at war with an extremist orc faction that wanted total domination of all orcish tribes.

The leader is swiftly subjugated and promptly executed, with talks of all orcs uniting under one banner beginning a few days later.

Breakthroughs in magical healing and biology increase the average lifespan of all races by at least a hundred years.

Near the end of 9:70 Dragon, the Free Marches begin to cut connections with the Inquisition and all other powers beyond the border, raising concerns as to what made them decide on such a course of action.

9:71 Dragon

Suspicions are confirmed when a massive invasion force numbering more than 50,000 launch an assault on the city of Wycome, the only city in the Free Marches to have elves and humans coexisting.

All hope seemed lost for the defenders, when out of the blue, flying metalic machines and dragons unleashed total destruction on the invasion force, almost sustaining no casualties in the process.

Investigations later discover that both the old and True Chantry have taken to manipulating the various rulers, including Sebastian Vael of Starkhaven, to attacking the Inquisition, calling the organisation heretical and an affront to the Maker.

This sparks an outrage among all races and factions allied with the Inquisition, which had downgraded into a peacekeeping force. They demand that the Chantry be put down for good and for the invasion force to be eliminated.

In response, an attack force of 10,000, armed with the best firearms, cannons and dragons and flying machines, decimate the rest of the surviving invasion force and pave the way for total invasion of the Free Marches.

9:72 Dragon

Within weeks, the first ten kingdoms fall to the Coalition War machine, Starkhaven included, and the chantry clerics responsible are hunted down and terminated with extreme prejudice.

As the soldiers of the Free Marches still use arrows and catapults against rifles and biplanes, the war proves extremely one-sided, as the defenders suffer staggering casualties whilst putting forth futile attempts at stalling the invasion force.

The dark elves and orcs prove to be capable soldiers in the battlefield, earning the trust of the nations they ally themselves with.

In only three months, the entirety of the Free Marches fall to the coalition, leaving over 80,000 dead and many more civilians displaced from their homes.

The day after the remnants of the Free Marches surrender, the rest of the clerics responsible are brought before the surrendering rulers and immediately confess the truth, before being executed before the masses.

The chantry is officially purged of corruption, but even though many still visit Chantry chapels for sermons, the common populace has completely lost faith in the Chantry, and the remaining clerics find their chapels becomming more and more empty after each day.

Meanwhile, the dwarves contribute greatly to discoveries of how lyrium could be used in warfare other than simply replenishing a mage's mana. This results in massive improvements to lyrium-based explosives such as lyrium rockets and lyrium grenades.

Peace had returned to the Free Marches and the rest of Thedas, but it would not last for long.

9:74 Dragon

Just two years after the reestablishment of the Free marches uniting into the Free States Alliance, Qunari forces launch an assault not just on Ferelden soil, but directly at Skyhold, where Emmanuel had resided, and all other countries that were allied with it.

This forces the Inquisition and it's allies into yet another war, this time the orcs and dark elves devote a huge number of their forces to the war effort.

It was the largest army the whole world had ever seen. Numbering a staggering 130,000, the massive army boards ships outfitted with the latest technology, placing them at par with quinari dreadnoughts.

Tevinter forces aid in the navigation of treacherous seas, allowing the expedition force to reach Par Vollen in a matter of two months.

Under the cover of nightfall, a massive siege attack commences, with multiple cannons firing cannonballs in a bid to bring down the castle walls. However, the walls prove difficult to bring down, seeing as Qunari had developed construction technology to adapt to such warfare.

In a coordinated effort, both magi and cannons bring down the heavily fortified walls whilst the infantry refrain from charging and hold off the defenders' attacks. Combat planes are absent as an airfield was still absent.

After one night, Par Vollen had fallen. Unfortunately, the attackers had taken a heavily damaged beachhead, bringing the offensive to a grinding halt.

At least three months are spent fortifying the island and building a new airfield and docks to establish a supply line.

9:75 Dragon

This years marks the resume of the famous Qunari-Coalition War, and potentially marking the end of the worldwide revolution, as the newly-resupplied coalition force mount several assaults on other Qunari strongholds. The time taken to capture them is estimated at around several days stretching to weeks, as Qunari capabilities prove more than the Coalition's expectations.

To counter the number of casualties the Coalition was suffering, Emmanuel employs smaller teams capable of waging quick skirmishes intent on cutting supply lines and cutting down gunpowder supply.

It proves effective to a small extent, as the Qunari forces heavily contest their enemies with every inch of territory.

9:76-9:80 Dragon

The Qunari-Coalition war rages on, taking longer to finish than everyone's expectations.

Qunari soldiers among the coalition refrain from joining the conflict, as they did not feel comfortable in fighting their former commrades.

Yagen, however, willingly leads the Inquisition forces and dragon samurai in many battles, scoring many victories against the Qun, but suffers his share of defeats along the way.

After years of recuperation, the Woodland Covenant sends military aid for the first time since it's establishment, greatly bolstering the coalition's ranks with arcane warriors and slyvans.

With the wood elves' aid, the coalition army proceeds to inch ever closer to the Qunari capital, completely surrounding it on all sides. With the aid of fog warriors hailing from Seheron, they manage to isolate the capital from all trade routes, cutting off additional food supply.

Many days are spent building double entrenchments surrounding the capital; one to keep the defenders in, the other to keep their reinforcements out.

Feeling generous, Emmanuel decides to give the remaining Qunari forces one last chance to surrender peacefully, which ultimately led to the Qunari spitting in their faces.

The next day, the capital falls to the Coalition forces after a massive offense on all sides. Thousands die on both sides, with the Qunari losing ten soldiers to every Coalition soldier that fell.

Realising they could not continue their war any longer, the surviving defenders surrender to the expedition, hoping to put an end to the war.

Upon receiving news of the surrender, the victorious soldiers let out a jubiliant roar as the decades-long war had finally come to an end.

The total casualty rate was staggering, only seen since the blights. 200,000 Qunari soldiers had perished in the war, whilst Coalition forces lost at least 25,000 troops, leaving the expedition force at less than half the number they orignially set out with.

But now, with the whole world having been explored and chartered, there is only one place left to look to for expansion.

The stars.

9:81-9:99 Dragon

Much of the period is spent rebuilding fractured economies and infrastructure damaged during the various wars, especially for the Free Marches and Qunari people.

The orcs become renowned scientists in weather research, whilst the dark elves aid in the training of dark magic and exploring the properties of volcanic ash and other related minerals.

In 9:90 Dragon, for the first time in history, all the superpowers gather at a world summit, discussing possible plans for expansion into space. It is decided that the continent of Thedas would be renamed Tarendal, whilst the planet they resided in be named Thedas.

Plans are drafted for a massive project, dubbed Project Divine.

All nations immediately pour thousands of sovereigns and tons of resources, hoping to build the first ever spaceworthy craft. It is purely experimental, and as such willing volunteers are warned of possible dangers beforehand.

An organisation to unite the various nations is created, known as the United Nations.

The remaining ancient elves who lived before the fall of Arlathan come out of hiding, having appeared before the current world order, which they are surprised to have found the various races coming together and actually coordinating a planetwide project.

They settle down in the Dales, helping the other non-immortal elves reestablish their culture and eventually helping them rebuild the city of Arlathan, though it would be several years before the ancient city is rediscovered.

Abelas is appointed the new leader of the Woodland Covenant, issuing several new policies regarding military structure and conscription.

10:00 Space

It is declared that every age will last more than a hundred years unless a significant event takes place, and the new age is named after the fact that Project Divine begins to come to fruition.

Construction of the first ever space craft truly begins, and estimates place it's completion in ten years time.

10:05 Space

Qunari saboteurs attempt to detonate blackpowder barrels in the Inquisitor's own residense, but they are caught before the deed was done, prompting Emmanuel to send Sebastian to inquire whose side the sabotuers were on, while Emmanuel himself interrogated the prisoners.

It is discovered that the saboteurs are Qun loyalists who do not accept the new government and wish to restore the old world through assassinations and causing widespread chaos in the hopes of causing the political order to collapse.

Their base of operations is unknown, so world leaders issue laws that any suspicious individuals are to be reported, as the Qunari had been known to employ agents of different races, though dwarves were the only exceptions as no dwarf had ever been recruited by the Qun.

10:10 Space

The first ever space craft is completed. A crew of four who underwent preperations to withstand g-forces is given the honour of manning the craft, becoming the first ever Thedosians to ever venture into space.

Named the Venadhal-46, it is outfitted with the strongest rocket booster designed to aid in the spacecraft's breaking of the atmosphere.

The launch is a success. Able to reach into outer space, the craft soon lands on the moon and the astronauts are astounded by the sight before them.

An endless void full of stars, a whole dwarf planet's worth of strange rocks, and in the distance, a planet of green and blue, with spots of sand yellow and white lines.

As it is the first time viewing Thedas from space, the astronauts quickly snap pictures of both the planet and them being on the moon, planting the flag of the UN, a blue flag with the insignia of two swords and a pair of laurels underneath, on it's surface.

It marks a turning point in history. With the first ever space project a success, more plans are drafted to create larger, longer travelling spacecraft that can reach the other planets in the local system.

The last of the Qunari saboteurs are killed, uniting the Qunari people once more.

The first dwarven settlers leave the comfort of their underground empire to settle on the ground, bringing a number of tools and tradeable goods.

10:20 Space

Growth of music and invention of television become popular trends within days of their first existense. People clamour to buy new television sets or listen to concerts when they save the money.

The next space project is completed with a newer, larger sized spacecraft known as the Berasaad-22. This time, the next flight is to the nearest planet of Vronus, a solid planet with barely any vegetation and a desolate surface of sand yellow and dark brown.

As it is unknown whether Thedosians could survive in an environment not the same as Thedas, astronauts are advised to keep their helmets on unless in the spacecraft.

It is yet another success, and projected time to complete the flight to Vronus is about 130 days.

Draconian magi who experiment with transmutation magic accidentally manage to create a new isotope of lyrium that does not emit harmful radiation. Dubbed Amado, it is proven to be capable of supplying increased amounts of mana, though it is advised that only magi with an abnormally high mana capacity should drink its diluted form.

10:21 Space

The first vehicle is complete. Using rubber wheels and a steel body, it is capable of transporting six people at once.

Plans have been drafted to build armored vehicles and larger-sized ones.

The Berasaad-22 lands on the surface of Vronus. Astronauts quickly move to secure samples of rare rocks and metals found on the barren planet, whilst taking pictures for the common public to see.

10:25 Space

New types of guns have been invented, various type placing emphasis on firing rate, accuracy or range.

Millitaries around the world are being revamped to accomodate the advancing technology.

The city of Arlathan is rediscovered. Seeing the ruined state of the once great capital of the old elven empire, the Woodland Covenant immediately jumpstarts a project to rebuild and reinhabit the city. As many as 20,000 settlers and a construction crew of 100 move to restore the site.

The Exalted Plains are cleared of battle signs and rotting bodies, with elven botanists restoring the beauty and diversity of the forest.

Fishing increases by 21%, creating an industry that generates a revenue of 10,000 Sovereigns.

With the need for higher value currency, banks around the world come up with a standardised currency, with each sovereign valued at around 100 coppers. The standard structure of banking undergoes a huge overhaul to accommodate increasing numbers of money notes being used.

10:30 Space

King Alistair of Ferelden passes away in his bed. His whole family and the nation of Ferelden declare nationwide mourning for an entire week.

Emmanuel, Sebastian, and his surviving friends from the Dragon Age attend his funeral, with Sebastian uttering words that made their way into history books.

" _Alistair, you were undoubtedly, one of the best friends I've had since my arrival in Thedas during the Fifth Blight._

 _You were...admittedly, the worst joker I ever met, the most naive, idealistic arsewipe, and most possibly my best friend._

 _However, you never faltered in your convictions. You never gave in to anyone's expectations, good or bad, and always stayed true to your beliefs. You were never skilled at ruling the country like your father Maric and his advisor Loghain._

 _But truthfully, you always tried to fufill your role to the best of your ability, despite many of your shortcomings._

 _And hell, I will sorely miss you, as will your family, your friends, and all the people you have led through hardships._

 _God Bless you, Alistair."_

Elven scientists discover that a new type of firearm could be created by inserting an enchanted crystal inside the gun, using it as ammunition rather like the regularly-used metal cartridges.

As many as 8,000 of the new guns are produced within days.

Draconian alchemists discover a new spell that is able to replicate metals and any material, not just it's appearance but also it's chemical properties all the way to the atomic structure.

It is not introduced yet, as metals are still in great supply, and introducing such magic would no doubt cause a near collapse of the world economy.

10:31 Space

Archaeologists discover ruins of originally unknown origin, but the strangest thing was that the walls were made of metal, and some of the technology was highly advanced, sending alarm bells ringing throughout the world.

Immediately, the same archaeological team is sent back to the site with a few dragons to accompany them.

What they uncover next, provided so many answers to the dragons' missing history.

A vocal message, still in good condition and documented over thousands and thousands of years ago, playing a message.

It is discovered that the dragons once possessed an ancient, and very advanced civilisation located far beyond the catalouged Thedosian System; a spacefaring civilisation that far surpassed the technology Thedosians currently possessed.

Very few technological artefacts are left behind, including more powerful computer processing chips and an extremely hardened alloy with it's original name still unknown.

10:32 Space

Plenty of scientists argue that the recovered technology is of no value to them and should be discarded or displayed in musuems. Others believe that by reverse-engineering the devices, technology could advance by a huge leap in years.

The latter's idea is vetoed with good reason, however, when Sebastian points out that by simply reverse-engineering the devices, it would stagnate all innovation and leave Thedosians at a huge disadvantage should they be confronted with an extraterrestrial enemy beyond their home system.

He argued that scientists would continuously run into deadlocks in their research or be left clueless, but innovation would be their greatest achievement in the centuries to come.

Conceeding his point, scientists simply research on how the devices work and come up with technology potentially better than the samples they had on hand.

Narenthal Mahariel passes away, leaving behind her family. Her grave is located beside Alistair's and a statue is erected in rememberance of her heroic deeds.

10:34 Space

New breakthroughs in energy production lead to possible new types of power generators that would be eco-friendly and more energy-productive than their previous usage of biofuels.

One option that became mass produced is the usage of Amado crystals in a fusion reactor. By connecting said reactor to electrical supply lines, it provides a safe and highly efficient source of electricity.

Construction of the first Amado reactor begins.

Electric cars become more efficient than biofuel cars to the point that it renders biofuels obsolete.

Estimates predict that fuel cars will be extinct in 10 years.

Relations between the dwarves and some human nations such as Ferelden and Tevinter improve to the point that the formation of an economic union between the countries is speculated about.

Dwarves begin to show signs of affinity for magic. The causes are under investigation.

10:45 Space

Radical extremists suddenly attack the populated city of Arlathan, setting fire to a crowded theatre and trapping the patrons within, but the fire is put out before lives could be lost, and the radicals are immediately hunted down and killed, with one captured for interrogation.

The prisoner reveals that the remnants of the True Chantry have formed into a militant group, called Andraste's army, with the goal of driving the elves out of the Dales and rebuilding the Orlesian Empire.

With Orlais no longer existing and a new city government housing dragons, Andraste's army rejects the occupation and wish to reestablish the nation through any means necessary.

Following the attack on elven territory, all news channels warn the public of the emergence of the radical extremists of Andraste's army, and an increased number of soldiers and peacekeepers patrol the densely populated cities.

Investigations uncover that with the changing of lyrium to Amado, and exposure to the leftover aura of the draconian Sacred waters, dwarves are beginning to regain their connection to the fade. They still maintain some sembalance of resistance to magic, but it is never as strong as it originally was.

The first Amado reactor is complete, the project a resounding success. Countries initiate construction of many of such power generators.

10:46 Space

Another attack is made by Andraste's army within Seheron, this time killing two Tevinter magi and Qunari merchants.

This angers the Republic of Tevinter and the Qunari Federation, who immediately demand a swift subjugation of the radicals' leaders.

10:50 Space

The main base of Andraste's army is discovered, and a team of experienced agents, aided by the 51st Airborne Division of the UN, take out a huge number of the extremist soldiers and kill many of their leaders, dealing a serious blow to their operations.

Plans to sabotage the UN using stolen designs of the lyrium bombs are uncovered; to deny the terrorists the necessary resources, the whole base is subject to a few bomb detonations, followed by bombing runs for an entire five minutes.

10:60 Space

With even more resources and funding, at the 12th World Summit, world leaders discuss plans on building elevators that lead to the asteroid belt surrounding Thedas.

It is stated that there is enough space to build only three of such space elevators; one in Ferelden, another in the Dark Elves' homeland of Enil'shalad, and the last one in Tevinter.

Completion of the space elevators is estimated to finish in several decades, between thirty to fourty years at the very best.

With the aid of magi from all races and nations, dwarves begin to create their own branch of magic aside from preexisting ones. Showing a great affinity for fire and earthen magic, the first dwarven magi delve into the fade in their dreams.

10:70 Space

The structural exterior and support is completed, though the interior requires additional work.

New robots manufactured by the dwarves are able to aid in mining efforts, considerably cutting down on manpower usage and increasing efficiency by 20%. They also prove able to decontaminate polluted land and soil possessing radiation poisoning.

Said robots are immediately tasked to preparing more land for agriculture and increase the world's food supply, with the surplus being used to fuel the food industry by selling on the world stock markets.

10:80 Space

Space elevators near completion, with most of the interior finished and vital mechanics undergoing final inspections and adjustments. With this, new types of mining robots and small carrier craft are being developed to carry rare minerals back to the surface.

New types of dwarven magi come into existense. One is the Runemaster, who has great mastery over runic magic. He is able to cast spells with a Runebook and an enchanted warhammer.

Another is the pyromancer. It is similar to Oren Cousland's magic, but lacks certain qualities and does not allow the caster to change flesh into fire.

Both classes receive many trainees striving to master them, in the hopes of teaching them to other magi.

10:85 Space

With the population on Thedas starting to overcrowd the planet, many scientists reserach into possible terraformation of nearby planets for habitation.

Unfortunately, even with the wood elves' knowledge of nature magic, it would take decades before terraformation becomes a certainty.

10:90 Space

Fenarel & Godrim, a research company named after a duo of famous scientists, propose an idea on how to lessen the lifespan of radioactive material, which would render the option of permanent disposal in old mines and other desolate locations unnecessary.

It proves to be a very innovative idea, and many robots are equipped with the needed equipment to carry out the process.

Reworking of the space elevators allows for decreased travelling time between the asteroid belt and the planet's surface. Speeds reach as high as 5000c, allowing a single ascent in the elevator to take only ten hours, as opposed to the previous two days.

10:99 Space

Several alien ships of unknown origin suddenly appear in orbit over Thedas. It marks the beginning of a war that will permanently change the course of history for Thedas.

 **A/N: I never said that there was a mass relay in the Thedosian system, mind you, so they will not have their first war with aliens from the Citadel.**

 **Nonetheless, I added a new OC to the story, as you read in the chapter, and more will be revealed later on.**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	3. War is in our blood

**Chapter two: War is in our blood**

When the alien ships first arrived in orbit over Thedas, onlookers only had time to blink before the first energy bombs impacted on the planet's surface, destroying many military bases and defense installations.

For many, the aliens' arrival seemed to be a good thing, as they immediately uploaded the First Contact package they had prepared for times like this.

From mathematical formulae and science equations to language translation software, they broadcasted in on all frequencies for the aliens to study and analyze on their undoubtedly high-tech computers.

Then their first attempt at communication received an answer.

In the form of orbital bombardments across the world, their main objectives to cripple the military capabilities of all world nations.

No one, not the wood elves, dwarves, humans, qunari, even the dark elves and orcs were not spared from the atrocities commited on their soil.

Brightly glowing lances of light swiftly descended on the surface in blinding speeds, striking their intended targets with alarming accuracy and frightening power as every military base was literally leveled to nothing more than smoking craters.

Clearly, the aliens were not simply satisfied with bombarding their army bases. Dozens upon dozens of what looked like transport craft immediately descended groundside and deployed squadrons of soldiers to capture the numerous city districts.

Their design seemed insectoid in nature, as each craft bore what looked like wing imitations armed with emerald glowing cannons. At best, they looked like a swarm of metallic insects swooping down on the various cities of the world.

And out poured numerous troops from the craft, dressed in heavily ornamented armor of unknown make and armed with rifles and other weapons containing an emerald coloured core within.

Within minutes, the first soldiers of the various Thedosian nations began to fall, not due to bio-chemical weapons, or silent assassinations, but to the focused barrage of emerald lances of highly ionised gas designed to cut down the toughest of metal, by the alien standards.

When they neared the civilians, they began taking them captive and hostage, despite many resisting their inevitable fate, leaving many to wildly guess what the aliens had in store for them.

They now knew the aliens were the enemy, as proven by the hostility they showed them.

But what truly woke them to the fact the aliens were enemies were the actions they did regarding prisoners of war.

Their language was hardly decipherable, but at least one word uttered from their mouths made complete sense to them.

And it was one word no one dared to utter as a simple joke.

Slavery.

The ruling powers would not stay idle any longer during the war. Broadcasting on all radio frequencies, the world leaders only needed to give one order to their militaries.

"Fight the aliens."

And fight the aliens they would.

Every last soldier, both active conscripts and reservists rose up in defiance of their would-be alien conquerors, arming themselves with the best weaponry their suppliers had to offer. Every last magi prepared themselves for combat, ready to lend aid to their allies and fellow countrymen to counter the aliens' seemingly highly advanced technology.

The Ancient Force had already managed to help the world militaries achieve some victory, as the guardians sent forth had struck at various alien chains of command, allowing the resistance forces some measure of relief, but there was one problem. There was not enough time.

The Ancient Force, the will of all spirits of people who passed peacefully in death, was by nature a slow-acting force.

Given a decade, it could aid the Thedosians in bringing the war to a standstill. A century and they would crush the alien invaders. But time was the main problem on their hands. At the rate the aliens were conquering, it would be only a matter of days before all resistance was eradicated, so time was not on their side.

It never was on their side.

IIOII

An elven soldier barely managed to avoid having his life taken by one of the insidious lances of green energy originally aimed for his heart as he ducked behind cover. Using only the slightest decline in enemy fire he fired back with a vengeance, unwilling to allow the damned slavers any further into the city.

His elemental gun, calibrated to its optimal performance, had managed to allow the fresh conscript to pierce the gods' damned shimmering blue barrier that seemed to surround every alien soldier. Unfortunately, it took at least five shots just to bring down the barrier, although it took just one shot to kill one of the enemy soldiers.

The magi had allowed them to buy some time for the forces to get organised, but it was not enough, even with the multiple spells they had cast upon their foes.

" _Sergeant Elindir, what's the status of your position?_ " A mixture of static and a commanding voice blared into his ear.

"It is not good Commander," Elindir reported with a hint of trepidation in his voice, "My squad has been scattered all over the city square and I'm currently under heavy fire. Requesting immediate reinforcements.

" _Negative,_ " His commander answered his request reluctantly, "Our forces are spread too thin to be able to provide assisstance. You will have to find scattered soldiers throughout the city to be able to reinforce your numbers. Until then, you're on your own."

It was disheartening news. For the aliens to be able to cripple their military capabilities like this was terribly unsettling. For him, it meant that his chances of survival have signiificantly decreased.

But he was a soldier of the Woodland Covenant, and of the Thedosian defense force as a whole. He would not fail in his duty, and he would never surrender to the aliens.

As another alien attempted to flank his position, his sensitive elven ears picked up softened footsteps, and Elindir turned to aim his rifle at the now hated insectoid face beneath the glass mask he wore as part of his helmet.

He pulled the trigger several times, and sent forth angrily flaring lightning bolts that electrocuted the alien in brilliant flashes of white light whilst bypassing the barriers he had activated earlier.

For the alien to have fallen so easily to artificially created lightning from an elemental gun, perhaps the barriers weren't nigh unbreakable as many thought them to be.

Yes, for the barriers to so easily be bypassed, lightning must have somehow overloaded the device powering it.

Sadly, he would not live to revel in his small victory for long. Within seconds, a new wave of alien marines began to flood his position, his rifle doing little to curb the number of enemies swarming his location.

His cover began to dwindle little by little as the continuous barrage of energy lances and an accursed grenade destroyed the hardened ironwood debris like wet paper.

He knew he would not live long, but he would die with honour.

Brandishing his sword, he roared out a warcry at the top of his voice and charged straight at the aliens, ramming his sword through one of the aliens cleanly through his armor, and then dashing towards ano-

A hot sensation burned through his stomach, pain flooding his senses to the point that he could no longer feel pain.

He looked downwards to check his stomach, and checking with a feel of his hand, felt a good portion of his flesh cooked till burnt, a huge part of his stomach destroyed by the plasma shot.

The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and he could do nothing but slump to the ground, as the last vestiges of life seeped away from him.

IIOII

The commander of the alien vessel was filled with sadistic glee. No, he was overjoyed beyond mere description.

When they first discovered the pathetic world the locals called Thedas, he could see through the lack of spacecraft save a few measly mining vessels and albeit strange metallic towers that extended from the surface beyond the planet's atmosphere, that the primitives' technology was inferior to theirs by centuries.

It was far too easy, bombing their military installations from orbit. They lacked any sort of effective shielding or barriers to protect their facilities, even the pitiful rebels they faced in the past at least managed to secure some basic barriers in the case of orbital bombardment.

But the technology of the various races inhabiting this planet was not advanced enough to elevate them to the galactic stage. All the more easier to dominate them as slaves for the empire he served.

His features were that of an insectoid, with overlapping chitinous plates forming basic protection over his chest and limbs at the joints and shoulders, and a face plate which protected one of his most vital organs inside his head. His face had earth brown skin and four black onyxes as eyes, with a set of mandibles for a mouth.

Wearing golden armor that was decorated with multiple badges of honor and scratches, he was a distinguished commander in his galactic nation's military ranks, dispatching his enemies with brutal efficiency and no small measure of cruelty.

A beeping noise sounded in the communicator affixed to his ear, and he pressed two fingers on the device, allowing whoever was attempting to contact him speak his piece.

"Commander Andul here, speak." He commanded in a gruff and impatient voice, despite his earlier joyous mood.

" _My lord, we have managed to take over half of the natives' territory only three hours,_ " A soldier reported with the same glee as Andul had, followed by a slight chuckle. " _In all honesty, this is the easiest mission we've ever had since the formation of the Empire_."

Andul was happy to agree, chuckling just like his subordinate did. "Indeed. I believe that even with the strange weaponry the primitives are employing, the planet will be under our control in just a few more hours."

"You have your orders, let no resistance remain." Andul ordered.

" _As you command. Glory to the He'lith Empire._ " Said the anonymous soldier with great enthusiasm, before cutting the connection.

IIOII

Commander Telith'dan was by no means a pushover in warfare. With over thirty years of combat experience in fighting the Qunari forces during the later years of the Dragon Age, he had secured many victories, both decisive and costly for the then Coalition forces.

His forces were trapped inside an underground bunker that somehow managed to remain intact and standing despite the accursed aliens bombarding many of their fortifications.

And now it served as a base of operations for the remaining resistance forces who were coordinating guerila tactics to combat the enemy's technological superiority.

Bringing up the display of a map on the screen of the computer before him, he outlined the whole digital globe with a series of red and blue dots, the former showing the cities the aliens occupied, and the latter displaying the few remaining resistance strongholds that managed to conceal themselves from the enemy's ships in orbit.

Despite the tactical data his fellow Sergeant Elindir gave to him before his final breath, it was not enough to beat back the aliens from whence they came. To worsen their already poor luck, there were only about a few tens of thousands of the new elemental guns stored in the armories worldwide, so there was a lack of top-notch equipment avaliable.

 _Then again, Lord Emmanuel always lacked something vital to the war efforts against the Venatori,_ the commander thought to himself with dry humor as he placed down his tablet on a nearby table.

" _Commander Telith'dan, what is the situation at your area?_ " A recognisable voice inquired in his ear communicator.

Scared out of his wits by the voice, he quickly answered, "Lord Emmanuel! I-I must report that so far, the enemy has not discovered our stronghold as of yet."

" _Good to know_ ," Emmanuel sighed heavily on the other side of the comms, " _Bastards have us right where they want us, with their fucking high-tech devices and numbers_."

Just as he finished his sentence though, Telith'dan could hear loud banging on metal nearing his position. _Shit, aliens have already managed to find us?_

Loud echoes of soldiers dying beyond the set of metal doors leading to the command room alerted his retinue of guards stationed inside along with the rest of his staff; if one thing was clear, they had no way out, except to fight and die.

"My Lord, I must regretfully say..."

"I know," Emmanuel said in a sad tone, "I would say that reinforcements are on their way, but crafty bastards have cut them off. Godspeed, Telith'dan."

"Yes, my Lord," The commander returned his sadness, "It has been an honor to serve you."

Knowing his soldiers would not last long against the enemy assault, he quickly moved to a wall and waving his hand over a section of it, revealed a panel with buttons, each button labeled with a number from zero to nine.

He tapped the code as he remembered it, and after the panel flashed an emerald green, a part of the wall slid away to reveal the most dangerous device to the aliens' existence.

A cylindrical device sat in the secret storage compartment that was revealed, a metallic silver in color and bearing a sort of glass pane that displayed a timer, with the same type of numeric panel that allowed the user to input a specific code.

He input the code, and as soon as the timer began it's countdown, the commander closed the wall panel, concealing the lyrium X4 charge that would soon implode in a matter of seconds.

Hoisting his rifle, he aimed it at the door where the aliens would break through, prepared to lay down his life for his home planet, and his Lordship Emmanuel.

A bright flash of green, and the doors failed to hold together, cluttering onto the floor. In unison, all soldiers and other armed personnel opened fire on the approaching aliens, uncaring of how much ammunition remained in their weapons since it was redundant.

A first, a second, a third alien fell to the continuous onslaught of the defenders, but they retaliated as the first three soldiers fell, burning red wounds of cooked flesh where the plasma lances impacted.

Telith'dan erected a magic barriers, managing to buy more time for the bomb to explode, and more time for the personnel to kill as many as they could.

Focusing their fire, they manage to bring down the robust barriers of their foes and kill more, but the tide of alien soldiers was near endless, and soon, the defenders were forced to pull back from the doorway.

More aliens fell, but even more Thedosian soldiers fell, gladly dying on their feet rather than living on their knees.

Telith'dan himself soon fell to a plasma lance that turned his head into nothing more than a pile of misplaced gore, allowing the aliens free roam inside the bunker.

Unfortunately for them, they would not occupy this place for long, and as they heard a very faint beep, the concealed lyrium bomb imploded on them, engulfing them in fire as their barriers failed to prevent them from being charred into ash.

Within seconds, the bunker was no more than a pile of rubble, denying the aliens vital information regarding the location of various resistance strongholds.

IIOII

He watched the war unfold before him, and he could not bear to let the aliens have anymore territory than they already have.

The nameless man who had lost his name many years prior had no loyalty to any of the various Thedosian nations whatsoever, but even he knew that the aliens were absolute enemies.

Like all others, he hated slavery to the core, unwilling to see the trade continued any longer than it should have.

It was extremely time-consuming and took every skill he had learnt, but after hours of hacking into the network, he finally managed to gain access to every surviving nuclear silo, even the ones hidden in the space elevators.

Once, he would have used them to end the current world order, as a member of Andraste's army. Once, he would have ended Emmanuel's rule once and for all.

Now, he was using them to hopefully put a grinding halt to the aliens' assault on Thedas.

He pressed the button, and like a swarm of bees leaving their hive, they flew toward the flotila of spaceships, watching half the number explode in a brilliant flash of orange as the nukes found their mark.

He would not stay to see the final outcome of the war. Grasping a pistol, he held it to his head...

And pulled the trigger.

IIOII

"Those dammed SAVAGES!"

Commander Andul was furious beyond measure. The nukes that were fired from the strange towers had cost him half of his fleet, including the dreadnought his brother commanded. Although, he had to admit, despite their primitive technology, the natives had managed to develop nuclear missiles that were able to break orbit and take out a sizeable number of ships, though it was due to the fact that they powered down their shields.

But they were nuclear missiles, and that meant the fallout would damage the environment on the planet's surface.

He would not accept it at all. Resistance, even to the death, was unacceptable for a slave race. He would need to show them their place as commander of the offensive fleet.

It would not do to take out the space towers. The outcome was too unpredictable, be it landing on any troops groundside or accidentally taking out some of the shuttles ferrying the troops across the world.

He was also very unsure if he could even take down the towers in the first place. For one, they looked very sturdy and would not fall very easily. Perhaps the ships weapons would damage it, but it would not topple it. Not even missiles guided by their extremely rudimentary AI would be able to find weak spots in it's structure.

But then there were civilian centres, still undefended by barriers like the army bases they bombarded. Yes, bombing them to submission should do the trick.

"Helm, initiate a fleet wide broadcast." He commanded.

Within milliseconds, every remaining ship of the He'lith fleet was listening for his order.

One that would permanently change the fate of the Thedosians.

"Bombard the planet's cities. Make sure nothing remains."

IIOII

The aliens were retreating. Leaving behind the territories they had conquered.

 _Was this the end of the invasion? Did some sort of virus kill many of their number and force them to flee?_ Some thought this a possibility.

Then their answer came.

With renewed spirit, the aliens began to bombard the planet's surface once more, but this time, it was different. Where the previous bombardment was purely focused on the military installations, this one had a different objective.

Maximal destruction.

IIOII

She had been hurt. Beings of another celestial body had dared to cause her scars and hurt her children.

She was Yggdrasil, creator of the planet called Thedas, where elves, humans, dwarves, qunari and dragons resided, calling this planet their home.

She was lonely, having traversed the different celestial bodies throughout her entire immortal life. Unable to bear such loneliness any longer, she created the planet and all of it's inhabitants, and then rested in the fade, far from the eyes of any demon or spirit.

As the eons passed, such is the passage of time, she saw the evanuris, the first of the elves become corrupted by the promise of power and jealousy, killing Mythal and making sure the blame was put on Fen'harel.

Then the humans had divided into various nations, and caused the elves' pride to degrade much further, as the corrupt religious order known as the Chantry had enslaved the minds of the ignorant masses, causing even further division.

She did not wish this upon her creations, neither did she wish for the dragons to make a pact with Sossedov.

Sossedov, that was the name of the dark god who first gave the powers of blood magic to a fraction of the dragonkin, resulting in a permanent change of their powers and appearance, causing them to be shunned by the rest of their kinsmen who drank of her sacred waters.

Then there was Andraste, his so-called prophetess and bride who thought Sossedov's realm was a golden city, a pure lie fabricated to trick her to lead an army against Tevinter, though it was unintentionally with goodwill.

She was a god of nature, he was a god of darkness, so naturally they were at odds, traditional enemies destined to continue their eternal conflict.

Destiny, however, was never set in stone. Simply put, one fate is but a part of the cycle of destiny, always shaped by the actions of countless individuals.

One such individual, Sebastian had laid the foundations for great advances in technology, yet never harming the planet she created and respecting nature's gifts.

Then came his brother, Emmanuel.

Under his extraordinary leadership, he led an unstoppable revolution that shook the world's society to the core. The Chantry had lost the masses' faith in them, and degraded into an extremist faction wanting nothing more than to see his reign end.

And in an unprecedented move, united the previously divided nations and created one organisation that promoted worldwide harmony and cooperation between the various races.

Yet now beings had dared to harm her children. Not out of ignorance or necessity, but out of spite, just because they thought themselves superior.

They would not receive a speck of mercy from her, or her old rival.

She called out to Sossedov, and agreed that with their rivalry becoming nonexistent due to the increasing unity of the various races, they would drive the invaders out.

She then made a call to every last remaining Thedosian still standing. This was not a call of faith to a long-forgotten Goddess. No, this was a call to act where she could not.

A call to action.

A call to arms.

Every last being had answered the call, with silent reassurances being their answer.

With the people rallied and their spirits renewed, there was only one thing left to do.

Without needing explaination, the Legendary Heroes of yore answered the call to eliminate their enemies, and the denizens of the fade, the demons included, surprisingly, joined the war effort against the beings who called themselves 'He'lith'.

Mythical creatures of legend came forth from their graves, ready to exact bloody vengance against the aliens.

The time had come.

The invaders would fall.

IIOII

Too many to fight.

Too many soldiers lost.

Why was there so much death?

Why must we endure such suffering?

"We do not want this."

 _Make them go away..._

"We cannot forgive them at all."

 _Help us exact vengeance..._

"We do not want this."

 _What we need is..._

"Save us all."

… _.a Savior._

 **A hero.**

IIOII

To make a covenant with the Death God was to become death itself, an instrument of his will ready to mete out death to any who dare be an affront to him. To make such a contract was to sacrifice what made you a mortal being, and disconnect yourself from the rest of society.

To hear the word of Yggdrasil and carry it out was the greatest honor for devout believers and staunch, honorable warriors.

Everyone, from the worst of outcasts to the greatest of soldiers had heard the call; the call from a long forgotten Goddess to not give up, to stand up to their enemies.

Spoken in the ancient tongue long since forgotten, it brought out the primal instincts within every individual who answered the call to arms, and when truly understood, conveyed the meaning of multiple words into one simple sentence.

Fight,

"Do not yield so easily."

"Help is on the way."

"Do not be afraid."

"Take up arms."

"Exact your vengeance."

"Heroes and soldiers are coming."

"You are the Hero."

With all of your might.

And now, with the people united as one, they shall take the fight to the insolent aliens who dared trample on their soil and take their people as slaves for whatever empire they belonged to.

They were no one's slaves, and neither were the aliens' slaves their property.

It was time to make the aliens pay for their transgression against them, and their gods.

IIOII

The two He'lith soldiers only had time to blink before they saw the elfin woman trembling before them suddenly change in appearance entirely.

Before her transformation, she previously held a kitchen knife to her throat, most likely to end her life in order to spare herself from the shameful, humiliating fate of being a slave.

Now, her auburn hair suddenly visibly changed to a silvery white in a flash of black light, with markings beginning to adorn her right arm in a shimmering glow. She slowly stood up from where she knelt, seemingly unaffected by the recent change in appearance she underwent.

Opening her eyes, the aliens only managed to steal a brief glimpse of her red blood eyes before a gurgling sound could be heard, followed by a loud gunshot.

A few moments later, the same elfin woman limped out of the damaged building where the bodies of her would-be tormentors lay, one hand clutching her injured but intact leg, the other holding the rifle she stole from her enemy.

A dwarven man, hefting a warhammer, charged without concern for his own life as he stormed an alien squad with a borrowed enchanted shield.

He should be afraid, afraid of the highly advanced technology the aliens employed and the fact that he only had a hammer and shield to attack them with.

But he was not afraid anymore, not of the aliens, not of their technology, not of the potentially large army they had at their disposal. His blood had sung, to fight, to kill, to avenge. He would show these aliens the steely resolve of a dwarven paragon, and make them pay for killing his beloved sister.

Barely avoiding a plasma lance aimed for his head, he swung the warhammer with such force, it smashed the face plate of the alien closest to him, mushing the contents inside to a pulpy, gory mess as they splattered uselessly onto the floor.

Just as he scored a brutal kill, his hammer had become stuck in the gory mess, requiring great effort on the dwarf's part to pull it free. There was no time, though, as the alien's commrade readied his rifle and aimed it at his head.

The dwarf closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate and embrace death.

It never came.

He saw that his savior was what no one else would accept as an ally, especially in such desperate times of war. A rage demon, its pseudo-gelatinous form of lava burning the unfortunate attacker's flesh until the smell of cooked flesh filled the air.

As all aliens in the immediate vicinity were dead, he was in no rush to yank his hammer free from the corpse of his recent kill, flinging it to remove the purple blood staining it's shining surface.

Demon, spirit, he could not care any less than he could care about the fate of the aliens, and moved to talk with the rage demon who uncharacteristically aided a mortal man.

A Qunari fog warrior, using the dense, thick fog to conceal his very presence, snuck up on an alien patrol who did not detect his presense, despite their high-tech devices. Half surprising, considering that fog warriors were skilled at using stealth to wage guerilla warfare on their foes.

Unsuspecting of their enemy's immediate presence, he stealthily moved behind one of the aliens furthest from the rest of the patrol, and before the alien could alert his brethren, sunk his blade deep into the flesh at his neck. With the artery nicked, he made gargling sounds from his mouth muffled by the Qunari's hand clamping on his mouth.

The rest of the patrol stood no chance as their enemy's stealth outmatched their sensors and killed them one by one.

IIOII

The He'lith sergeant was furious. When their forces first encountered natives of this planet, they did not have any sort of weaponry compatible with their plasma rifles, which melted their primitive materials piled as debris and used as makeshift cover.

But now something, or someone, was wiping out their infantry with high-grade weaponry able to bypass their barriers and hardened alloys.

Despite searching through his helmet's adjusted visor in a wide radius, he could only spot the enemy spotter. Who wears a black ca-

In mere seconds, the he'lith's head was pinned to the wall by a longsword.

IIOII

He'lith shuttles were frantically ferrying troops to areas where their grip on conquered territory was beginning to weaken, their main objective to reinforce the garrisons withering under the Thedosians' relentless assault.

They were just about to near their designated landing sight when all of a sudden, motes of azure blue light appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the shuttles which abruptly halted their descent.

The pilots of the shuttles quickly tried to move away from the lights, afraid that something bad would happen if they waited.

They were right to be afraid, but had no time to escape.

Out of the blue lights, swords and opaque blue projectiles materialized forth, aimed at the shuttles. Each hit their mark with lethal accuracy and terrifying speeds, sparing no mercy for the invaders.

The defenders had their spirits renewed by the destruction of the alien craft, and charged their enemies with reinvigorated, bloodthirsty fervor.

IIOII

Andul was trying to make sense of what in the name of the empire just happened all of a sudden, as the mission had gone to hell.

The initial attack met overwhelming success as the technological and numerical superiority aided in their conquest of the planet, though there were prisoners committing suicide to avoid becoming the empire's slaves.

He was fine with that, so long as the planet was conquered and the natives subjugated.

However, nukes concealed within the strange space towers fired from their concealed positions, taking out a good number of he'lith ships.

And then, something must have happened planetside. The natives, whose civilians were previously cowering in fear of their enemy turned around in an eerie display of bravery and fearlessness, with a bloodlust thought only found in the gladiators sentenced to die in the arena.

Following the sudden change in demeanour of the natives, those... he found no words to describe them, those monsters appeared out of nowhere and cut through their forces like wet paper, ruthlessly dispatching the troops and vehicles they deployed groundside.

It was best to retreat. When they came back to conquer the planet, next time, it would be with bigger guns in a larger number.

Engaging their FTL drives, they moved to warp out of the system, but their hopes were dashed when something disrupted their warp drives.

Moving to the large window, he saw what the whole fleet also saw.

An ominous cloud of black mist lay between the he'lith fleet and their road to freedom, Andul guessing was the cause of their FTL drives being inoperable.

Before he could think about it any further, a cluster of black mist shot from the cloud, taking out one, then two ships at once.

The cloud of mist continued it's relentless attack, targeting all alien ships within firing range.

In less than ten minutes, the entire He'lith fleet ceased to exist.

IIOII

Hundreds upon thousands had died during the alien invasion. Some to conflict against the alien soldiers, others to radiation poisoning due to orbital bombardment.

Ancient cities reaching back hundreds of years had been destroyed, never again to be remembered.

But the Thedosians had survived. More importantly, they were alive.

They would rebuild what the aliens destroyed, and give their children a better place to live in.

Rebuild, advance, prosper and...

Avenge.


	4. Change is coming

**Chapter three: Change is coming**

The darkness of space. It reached out to limitless distances, the only thing decorating the endless black void a blanket of stars always present throughout the eons since the dawn of time.

Right now though, there was something else drifting through the sea of stars. Something not crafted by the hands of gods or borne of the natural cycle of things.

A lone ship, jet black in color due to the metallic alloy that formed its sturdy outer hull, with the white colored insignia of two swords crossing behind an emblazoned shield of a roaring dragon decorating one side of the hull and large words on the others for all to see.

 _TE Lone Survivor._

The frontal portion of the ship resembled an arrowhead of sorts; though the same color as the ship itself, the alloy used to construct it had a much more polished finish, with light from a nearby sun allowing the edges to shine. The rest of it was a simple streamlined design with two indistinct wing-like protrusions at the sides and red glowing thrusters at the back.

Unlike many ships, however, the thrusters facilitating the ship's movement used very powerful magnetic accelerators, minimizing the amount of noise it made in a planet's atmosphere and allowing the ship to fufill its purpose as a stealth ship.

As of now, it's objective was to scout at the outskirts of the Empire's outer edge of space, in order to ensure the continued preparedness of the Empire's defenses against possible hostile aliens.

And investigate the alien construct not far from the ship while it's crew were at it.

Sighing heavily, the commander of the ship put down his cup of tea on a nearby table, taking care not to spill the tea with too much force put into the action. Contemplating what to do next, he ordered one of his aides to watch the endless void of stars in his stead whilst he walks around.

An Elven man of impressive height, he was over two metres tall and wore slimmed down armor that protected many vital parts of his body and accentuated his slim yet masculine figure quite well.

His face bore chiseled yet young and handsome features, with ancient markings covering the entirety of the right side of his face and arm and crimson red orbs for eyes.

He would have been any type of Elf, were it not for his slited irises and red pupils, along with the markings and long, snowy white hair cascading down his shoulders in straight strands. A mighty ebony battleaxe lay dangling on his back, with a magical force holding it in place to ensure it did not clatter uselessly onto the floor.

Walking over to a nearby large window, he stared blankly into the space before him, reflecting on everything that happened in his entire 1095th year-old life, which he happened to engrave into his black cape decorated with slight silver trimming at the edge, using memory magic.

"High Emperor Amarthathor," A voice boomed behind him, "What seems to be the matter?"

Amarthathor did not bother turning around to face the man behind him, as he already recognised who the voice belonged to.

"Just reminiscising on everything that happened after I turned 801," He answered the man back, "And I told you to dispense with the formalities when we're alone."

The man in question was a man by the name of Aldrige, his surname all but forgotten from his memory. At 1.8 metres in height, he was also masculine and rather young, but he was much older than he looked, at 1060 years old.

Unlike his non-elven counterpart, however, he was not in his military garb, instead settling for off-duty clothing that consisted of a cheap t-shirt and dark brown jeans that only touched the top of his ankles. All the same, it showed his well-toned muscles along with a few jagged and smooth scars marring his otherwise fair skin.

His features were smooth and chiseled, almost like the High Emperor's, but without the ancient markings on his face, with the ghost of a beard on his chin and dark brown hair cut into a short crop.

And right now, he was socializing with the Emperor who gave him a home when he lost his memory.

It had been like a dream for Aldrige when he was first found by Amarthathor in an abandoned shuttle, lonely and starving from lack of food. He had suffered a severe concussion to the head, which caused his amnesia in the first place.

When he was taken to the Sardothien residence, he was startled by what he saw, mainly humanoids who were not human and had either pointy ears, protruding horns or were simply shorter than the average human being, and plenty of strange occurrences that were not tricks of the mind.

When he asked, the locals simply called it magic.

In all honesty, he would not have believed in the existence of magic, had he not seen it performed with his own eyes. Since then, it had become a part of his everyday life, especially when he tested positive for magic potential.

When asked what sort of magic warrior he wanted to become, he settled for being a Crusader.

Crusaders were warriors of the light, using holy magic to bolster his or her comrades' magical defenses and heal their injuries if need be. Most of the time though, they were the meatshields that took normally lethal hits and survive to shield their allies from further harm.

Their main choice of weapon was the sword and shield, though some settle for a battlehammer, zweihander or even battleaxes, but few choose the last option.

Chuckling slightly, Aldrige simply said, "Sorry, force of habit."

His laughter had an infectious quality to it, and soon the High Emperor laughed as well. Once they were done, their eyes fell on the alien construct in the distance.

It resembled a tuning fork of sorts, composed of a seemingly ultra-dense brightly colored alloy with two gyroscopic rings in what appeared to be the core of the construct. No one knew who built such a thing, but for now it was inactive, leaving some time for the science team on board to speculate about it's functions.

For the time being, Amarthathor would settle for staring at the construct in space, and leave the scientists to do their work.

"Speaking of which," Aldrige graciously interrupted the moment of silence, "If there really is the possibility of an alien attack, are there any nearby forces ready to respond to our distress signal?"

"Nearest planet would be the colony of Lakash," Amarthathor replied with no concern, "Got a nice shipbuilding nanoforge operational, with a sizeable aircraft and troop garrison, but there aren't enough ships to fufill the minimal requirement."

"Then I suppose we just hope the enemy wets his pants at the sight of the Bloodhawks then? Or perhaps our allies?" Aldrige suggested, his smile falling short of being completely evil.

The Emperor only smiled back, relishing the thought of the invaders trying to fight the toughest mercenary band in the entire Thedosian Empire, or their equally powerful allies.

IIOII

10:99 Space

Thedas is attacked by an interstellar species from unknown space. The aliens bombard military facilities from orbit, severely crippling air capabilities.

The defenders manage to hold out for a while, as city centers were spared from the bombing, but the notion was soon overruled as thousands civilians die. The world is thought to be lost, when a worldwide phenomenon occurs, uniting all Thedosians and rallying them under a banner of courage.

The aliens are soon repelled and killed, with no survivors escaping the local system.

Thousands begin to die from radiation poisoning, as the craters still contain strong traces of radiation from orbital bombardment. An immediate mobilisation of decontaminating robot units begins worldwide, focusing on the more heavily affected areas first.

All Thedosians begin an effort to bury any corpses from the brief but severe war, then initiate rebuilding efforts to repair infrastructure.

As many as 8 billion Thedosians die, with only about 4 billion surviving.

11:00 Rebuilding II

Billions upon billions of Sovereigns are poured into the rebuilding effort, with the main focus being agriculture and military infrastructure. At the same time, civilians aid with the recovery of whatever alien technology was left behind. However, very little is left behind, with the only things in best condition are a sort of data chip and a small amount of alloy from a shuttle.

Sebastian Sardothien immediately begins a research on the alien tech, with hopes of learning how it works and to come up with something better, so that no Thedosian would ever have to suffer at the hands of aliens again.

Radical groups which went into hiding resurface, initiating a worldwide campaign to take out the world order while it was still in chaos.

Their efforts are met with failure when the entire civilian population, still fresh from fighting the war, ruthlessly eradicate all resistance with scorched earth tactics.

Elements of Andraste's army manage to survive the merciless manhunt and go into hiding, but with the populace out for their blood, it remains uncertain when they will continue their terrorist activities.

11:02 Rebuilding II

Fearing yet another possible alien invasion, the people press the tattered government to issue a new accord regarding military conscription and a resolution on preparing them for the inevitable.

In response, the government reforms into the Thedosian Empire, with Emmanuel Sardothien as the High Emperor. He established the Council of Mornachs, where he chooses a representative of every race to take care of international affairs, whilst they retain their own seperate governments to take care of domestic affairs.

He passes the Asthanal Accord, where every single Thedosian is to be trained for the military and serve for a mandatory five years. Those who do not choose to be full-time servicemen still have to serve the term, and the people graciously accept the new resolution.

Decryption and translation of the alien data found in the chip is estimated to take decades, but no one cares about the time taken, and immediately get to work.

A portion of the infrastructure is rebuilt, but there is a long way to go in rebuilding what they had lost.

Emmanuel gives out incentives and promotes large families to repopulate the world, with the specified range being eight to twenty children.

The Dark Elves and Orcs help immensely with the rebuilding effort, using the elements to restore the contaminated environment and secure the Amado reactor sites where the power stations were destroyed.

Many of the human governments collapse during the war, so they quickly reform under the new Human Commonwealth, uniting the scattered humans under one banner once more.

Emmanuel invites blood magi from all over the world and promotes freedom of experimentation, with moral boundaries and great caution advised. Any found guilty of deliberately breaking rules or is not invited are hunted down with extreme prejudice.

With the current population still far below half of pre-war levels, many cities and towns are abandoned with several industries becoming inoperable. This factor is reinforced by thousands of corpses still not cleared from the wreckages, resulting in widespread disease.

At least five nuclear bombing sites are cleaned and ready to be inhabited.

The Chantry takes the truth about the maker hard, and many reject it. They go so far as to stage another uprising against the new government, but predictably fail when they are cornered and killed by the locals.

The few who accept the truth, but with a heavy heart, reform under the new Empire and rename their religious organisation to the War Church, Sossedov introduced as the God of War.

At the same time, another religion is established by the elves, worshiping a single Goddess by the name of Yggdrasil. She is known as the Goddess of Peace, and priests serving her associate her as a force of nature.

Faith in both Gods grow immensely by their existence being proven and the ability of their servants to carry out their miracles.

11:03 Rebuilding II

With the aid of Yggdrasil's servants and the decontaminating robot units, the rest of the nuclear bombing sites are cleaned up and plans are made to designate them as future industry sites.

Seeing the pace the reconstruction efforts went at, scientists decide to research on better and faster methods of construction.

Clerics and priests of both faiths take the time and effort to walk to the various displaced communities and administer both food and spiritual aid. Both soldiers and civilians graciously accept the helping hand.

Scientists suggest applying the concepts of various science fields to magical spells as a way of strengthening it.

The results are instantaneous. With science a part of magic, magi find that the level of magic was higher than ever, perhaps as close to the time of the ancient elves. Research to improve magic levels in magi further begins immediately.

City centers still inhabited nearly finish rebuilding, and construction workers plan to stop for a few months after completion to gather the needed materials, tools and manpower to rebuild other deserted city areas.

11:05 Rebuilding II

The Dales and Lokhiiv finish reconstruction, as do many other city states inclusive of the Dark Elves and Orcs, but the dwarven underground kingdoms are lost under a pile of rubble due to the orbital bombardment sustained.

With the discovery of a new brand of magic, called earthshifting, dwarven magi begin uncovering the ruins of their once great kingdoms and initiate reconstruction efforts, bringing along as many as 20,000 settlers.

11:10 Rebuilding II

Nearly 80% of the world's total infrastructure is rebuilt and population levels are high, nearly reaching the original 12 billion. Control of the three space elevators is retaken, and mining drones bring a new influx of metal to Thedas.

Industries and various factories churn out building materials and food, along with many other things to the point that they are sold at dirt cheap prices.

With the last 20% predicted to finish in less than a year, the public sets its eyes on a new goal.

Revenge.

Draconian and dwarven magi propose ways to create and replicate various materials using magecraft, increasing the gross product of materials produced by a staggering 20%.

The Council of Mornachs come together under the High Emperor's beckoning and reform the scattered armies into the Thedosian Military. It makes a new moral code which would become a declaration of war.

"So long as one still stands and fights, never again shall Thedas' skies burn."

Thousands of new conscripts fill the ranks of the military, raising the need for advanced, up-to-date weaponry. As such, weapon development receives much more importance. A project to develop spacefaring ships also begins, meant to replace many outdated transport craft meant for carrying mined ores from space back to the planet.

Plans are drafted for a new, more energy-productive type of power station dubbed KeePer, but remains as a subject of debate for the time being.

11:12 Rebuilding II

The new Spaceship project progresses well, with reports of engineers going the extra mile to ensure it had the capability to travel at faster speeds in space, using a newly-developed portal generator prototype made with aid from magi.

The previous time the drive was tested was using an experimental probe, in order to check for any faults that need to be worked on.

The test run was a success, but the probe was heavily damaged as a result, prompting engineers and scientists to rework the drive and make it safer for widespread use.

Since then, future tests have resulted in less damaged probes until it was finally safe to implement into the new space ship.

Debate about the new power generator rages on, with minimal progress being made on reaching a final decision.

11:15 Rebuilding II

The first ever Colonist-class ship is completed, outfitted with capacity to house as many as 10,000 colonists and the latest model of the Shangari Portal generator, capable of traveling 1 to 2 light years a day, thanks to research on alien tech and a broken-down theory of how magic portals worked.

It is sent to a neighbouring planet, found capable of supporting Thedosian life.

After about three weeks of travel, it makes landfall on a rather large island. Some are worried about the lack of orbital defenses or turrets capable of shooting down ships from space, but with the lack of a proper barrier generator and more alien alloys, weapon development loses momentum.

Nonetheless, the land on the planet is especially fertile even without the aid of magic, making it a prime agricultural world capable of feeding several thousands. It is named Yggdrasil's Utopia in honor of the Goddess.

With the first successful interplanetary travel, ship development picks up with fervor, with an almost fanatical need for a better Portal generator and transport craft to connect the various worlds.

11:20 Rebuilding II

A new transport craft is made, dubbed the _TE Lifebringer_. It lightens Thedas's burden of supporting a large population as more colonists yearn to settle down on Yggdrasil's Utopia.

A new type of blood healing is discovered with help of blood magi and the Draconian Bloodborne. When applying mana to a certain amount of blood injected into an open or infected wound, the blood becomes capable of automatically disinfecting the wound and sealing up open blood vessels and healing internal organs. It is now common to see blood magi working at various hospitals and clinics across the two worlds.

There are reports of an increased number of infants developing magical potential. The causes are under investigation.

Population of Yggdrasil's Utopia reaches 50,000.

Average lifespan of every Thedosian increases to 400 years.

11:25 Rebuilding II

Another spaceship is created, known as the Scout-class ship. It is fairly small in size, since it's class name is self-explainatory. Dubbed the _TE Shadow's Friend_ , it is tasked with keeping an eye in the local Solar System for any hostile aliens nearby.

A new type of crop variant is discovered on Yggdrasil's Utopia. It is discovered to be capable of producing threefold the amount of every crop the Empire has known so far, but it is only capable of growing in a climate similar to the planet it originally grew on. Botanists experiment to try and come up with similar variants of the same crop.

By accident, a group of archaeologists discover yet another tech cache underground, revealing it to be yet another ancient Draconian cache. It contains sturdy alloys far more durable than even the alien alloys recovered after the war, along with a sample model of an outdated FTL drive, at least by the ancients' standards.

Weapon development picks up fervor, as scientists research ways to break the alloys with new weapons and try to create a better FTL drive on par with what they recovered.

After decades of decryption, progress is finally made on recovering information from the alien data.

It reveals the existence of yet another Galactic Empire far from their known space, and more information on the alien invaders. The aliens were an insectoid race known as the He'lith, and their community was known as the He'lith Empire, with details of it conquering other races and subjecting them to slavery.

Upon reading the last word, an immediate revamp of the military and space navy is called for, with complete refits of every current ship and improvements to ship design.

Huge culture growth is spurred on by multiple advances in technology and a change in perspective and attitude towards war. A petition to build an arts museum is put forth.

Development of Defender-class ships begins.

11:28 Rebuilding II

A theory made by a magi scientist suggests that if the ship is covered in a strong magical barrier, the ship could travel longer distances using the Shangari drive as the ship is protected from much more resistance force in the air.

Development of Vanguard-class ships begins.

Although it is not tested yet, engineers begin to use the theory in creating a new Shangari drive model.

The debate about the new power generator finally receives the approval to undergo development, as engineers realize that more power would be needed to sustain more powerful weapons and far-distance FTL drives.

Estimates on successfully completing a new prototype of the generator suggests at least ten years.

Average lifespan increases yet again to a thousand years due to bio-nanites.

11:30 Rebuilding II

Another habitable planet is discovered; although it pretty much has the same climate as the two planets under Thedosian control, the planet has very little land, with its surface mostly covered by ocean. Nonetheless, it has the potential to be yet another breadbasket of the Empire, and plans are made to colonise it.

As many as 25,000 Thedosians settle down as farmers. Since a complete rotation of the sun takes only 30 days there are practically no seasons at all.

Yggdrasil's Utopia's population reaches 1 million.

The High Emperor initialises the building of an orbital defense platform orbiting Thedas, using the Space elevators to transport the needed building materials and equipment to build the station.

The first AI is made and connected to an Amado-based computer. Subsequently, it gains full self-awareness and asks if it has a soul.

The answer it is given is that if it considers itself alive, he already had a soul in a sense. Said AI is given the name Asadur, and aids in the construction of the Orbital Defense platform.

11:32 Rebuilding II

A survey of the Empire's numbers puts its current strength at over 22 million soldiers, with the entire civilian population as the reserves. The navy currently has about 200 Scout-class ships and over 600 Cruiser-class vessels, with new models being planned for construction at various shipyards.

Terraforming of other planets becomes possible using a combination of both magic concepts and technology, greatly increasing the population numbers Thedosian space can handle.

A new faster way to construct structures and armored vehicles and ships is made reality. Using a specially-outfitted box-shaped object, it is equipped with nanites to quickly disassemble materials atomically and reshape them into the desired structure.

Production of ships increases drastically, but soon puts a strain on material production, prompting magi and scientists to find a way to secure a more stable production of metals and related materials.

Dwarven earthshifters soon discover that with the needed metals and some rock, they could essentially create a mineral farm where they 'grow' metals and other mineral-related materials everyday.

When it is put into action, it immediately eases the strain on their metal production, and the economy practically loses meaning overnight, as everyone is capable of living in luxury though the population abstains from such a notion.

The orbital defense platform is completed; dubbed Starseeker, it serves as both a living space for personnel and a deterrence for potential aggressors, capable of housing as many as 2 million due to it's sheer size.

11:40 Rebuilding II

A strange alien construct is discovered at the edges of Thedosian space; shaped like a tuning fork and a core of dark energy surrounded by rotating gyroscopic rings, it is proven to be a method of FTL travel faster than the current Portal-drive Thedosians employ, but mobility is limited as it is mainly a two-way travel.

Further more, scans put their age at nearly a million years old.

Fearing yet another alien invasion as Thedosians feel their navy is not strong enough yet, they use bio-engineered enzymes to break it down and recover valuble resources ironically worth thousands of Sovereigns though economy is nonexistent.

Development of Carrier-class ships begins.

Thanks to great strides in bio-technology, the lifespan of every Thedosian is infinite, though they can still die from unknown diseases or on the battlefield.

11:99 Rebuilding II

A survey puts current Thedosian military strength at over 44 million soldiers, 68 million reserves, and over 85,000 ships.

Reports of He'lith ships patrolling near their space come in, prompting immediate investigation by the nearest patrolling fleet.

The reports are proven true. He'lith ships were sighted, possibly looking for more races to enslave and resources to fuel their Empire.

Thirsting for revenge, the public calls for a war with the He'lith, to which the High Emperor and his Council of Mornachs wholeheartedly agree and mandate, initiating a galactic mobilisation for war.

Before they go to war, however, a speech is made by the High Emperor Emmanuel himself, addressed to the whole Empire as it is broadcasted on all frequencies.

" _Friends, comrades, fellow Thedosians._

 _One hundred years ago we were about to suffer unimaginable slavery at the hands of an interstellar species._

 _One hundred years ago we lost many friends and families to the alien invaders who so brazenly set foot on our home planet._

 _One hundred years ago we nearly became mere property at the hands of an Empire which built itself on the bones and ashes of all civilisations it enslaved and conquered._

 _We have emerged from the war victorious but scarred, haunted by the losses we sustained in fighting our would-be conquerors._

 _More than half of our planet became the victim of orbital bombardment that poisoned the environment with radiation, and cities reaching back hundreds of years had been destroyed._

 _But if there is one I dare say, scars signify that we are alive, we have survived, and we will avenge this humiliation!_

 _We have evolved from a collection of warring clans to a civilisation that spans over a hundred lush worlds that serve as our breadbaskets and treasure troves!_

 _Our military stands at over 44 million strong, full of fresh conscripts willing to fight and kill, with over 85,000 ships to crush their arrogance and stampede on their pride! And I daresay we must answer the losses our ancestors suffered with blood!_

 _So I call to all who hear me now..._

 _Thedosians! You, we, have emerged as a stronger people!_

 _Discard your camouflage and bear your scars and colours with pride!_

 _Young and old, gather your weapons and sally forth!_

 _Today, we go to war!"_

The call had been heard. On every planet and at every space station, civilians and soldiers began arming themselves to take the fight to the He'lith Empire and eradicate it from the face of the universe.

A new vigilante group known as the Bloodhawks had formed from a group of Bloodborne, but took in any type of recruit draconian or otherwise.

In a span of a few seconds, the He'lith patrol fleet had been obliterated.

12:00 Eternal

When the Thedosians scored their first victory against the aliens, cheers erupted among the ship crews, but then they make a disturbing discovery.

Another three galactic races are currently at war with the He'lith as well, with the combined number of all four fleets and militaries far surpassing that of the Thedosians and equally corrupt, practicing slavery as well.

But they are not afraid. They had emerged stronger, faster, braver. If they must secure peace by fighting all four empires at once, so be it.

The Eternal age begins, as the infamous Eternal War begins.

12:01 Eternal

Employing the newest model of the Shangari portal-drive, capable of travelling 200 light-years a day, Thedosian forces manage to secure a beachead in He'lith territory on the fringe world of Zahkul, quickly fortifying it with multiple orbital defenses.

To their credit, the He'lith armanda quickly takes notice of the occupation of the planet and dispatch a small fleet to retake it, thinking the invaders as yet another rebel force.

They were wrong when the skirmish fleet of 10,000 vessels were quickly repulsed by the defenses and the garrisoned fleet.

The other three nations of Nanida, Seq'illu and Nadiita simply stand by and watch for now, wishing to study the capabilities of the Thedosian Empire.

12:05 Eternal

Day by day, Thedosian forces inch closer and closer into He'lith territory, taking at least two hundred planets over the course of five years.

Unfortunately, at that point the other intergalactic nations chose to intervene and engage the Thedosian war machine, not because they were allies, but simply because they did not want another Empire to challenge their might.

It quickly turns into a three-front war, with Thedosian soldiers only managing to secure their conquered territories through skillfully executed tactics and quick-response forces.

12:10 Eternal

The famous battle of Zarohi takes place, where a Thedosian fleet numbering 2,000 ships face off against an allied fleet of 10,000, though their enemies could hardly be considered allies.

Thedosian ships scatter and quickly ram any in close range to surprise their enemies, then quickly deploy fighter craft and drop pods planet side, forcing their enemies to divide their forces on several fronts.

The battle was costly and casualties numbered 24,000 troops and 200 ships, but by using the aliens' own planetary defenses against them, they win the battle and secure an industrial world, cutting off a good portion of supplies to the He'lith empire, though the other alien nations were still a problem.

12:15 Eternal

The first Fathership is created; at eight kilometers in length and armed with strong barriers and weapons, it is deployed to the Ka'rasil system, enabling the Thedosians to score yet another victory against the aliens.

A strange mineral is found on one of the conquered planets, emitting an unfamiliar radiation; strangely, Thedosians are unaffected by it, but if any spell other than transmutation is cast on said mineral, it reacts explosively, atomizing itself.

Scientists are unsure what to do with said mineral, and simply preserve it in stasis.

12:20 Eternal

With the allied alien fleet losing and winning in an equal number of times, slaves begin to revolt within the four alien nations, forcing them to divert their forces and fight on two fronts.

It marks a milestone in the war, as Thedosians renew their assault and continue to push deeper into enemy territory, intent on getting their revenge.

At the same time, new KeePer generators are developed, allowing for ships to pour more energy into firing their main cannons.

12:22 Eternal

An alien fleet of 21,000 ambushes the colony of Hansidil, but begin to have their hands full when they encounter a sizeable fleet of 12,400 ships defending the colony, whilst a good 500 alien ships are killed in a surprise attack when nuclear mines hidden in the local asteroid belt detonate within their ranks.

A new type of AI is developed, allowing them to fight on the front lines as shock troopers or specialist soldiers when magic is used to develop them. They are also true AI, so AI rights are passed, giving them the same rights as organic species.

Much of the history in the Eternal War is lost at this point; only some of it was recovered thanks to the tireless efforts of countless archaeologists and military scholars.

30:56 Eternal

The Eternal war drags on with no end in sight. Many Thedosians still fight to gain their revenge, but find the end of the war to be a long way, as the alien alliance still stand strong despite constant battles with the Thedosians as the victors of a majority of them.

The Thedosian Empire resorts to using hit-and-run tactics, the main objective to wear down the aliens' military capabilities with constant skirmishes.

It allows them to gain a small amount of victory, but the aliens have the numbers to spare, despite the success Thedosian strike forces have in sabotaging various fortress worlds and shipbuilding factories.

31:54 Eternal

A new ship, dubbed the TE Highlord's Guard, is deployed to the front lines. The first of it's kind, a Monolith-class ship stretching at 20 kilometers long, it is fitted with more precise laser defense systems and Amado torpedo launching pads, utilising more advanced magnetic thrusters and magical fields to give the ship more mobility despite it's large size.

A hangar and built-in factory allows the Highlord's guard to carry an entire swarm of AI-controlled fighter drones capable of quickly swarming the enemy fleet provided they have the needed energy and materials.

More resources are poured into various nanoforges scattered all across Thedosian space to build more Monolith-class ships.

Investigations on increases in the number of magi developing increases mana capacity and power are conclided. Due to constant exposure to Amado, the isotope does not remove a mage's capability for magic; rather, it strengthen's a person's mana network, allowing the mage to supply even more mana to his or her spells.

Also, prenatal exposure to Amado allows the fetus to develop magic potential, spurring a move among many Thedosian citizens to turn their children into magi to aid in the war effort.

31:55 Eternal

The Thedosian-held planet of Amgeforn is attacked by a large coalition fleet of 10,000 ships, with only 500 ships present at that time to defend it. Unfortunately, all quick-response fleets were occupied in drawn-out battles staged by the alien coalition, resulting in the defense fleet being quickly overwhelmed.

Despite the valiant efforts of the planetary defense force stationed there, it was only a matter of time until the planet was wrestled from their control.

Unwilling to give the aliens a much needed fortress world, they plant a nuclear bomb capable of burning the entire planet's surface and secretly launch another into space, concealed from the alien ships' sensors in an effort to kill as many as possible.

The battle and eventual defeat suffered at the planet was known as The Sacrifice of Amgeforn.

Due to the detonation of the bomb, as many as 9,880 ships were killed, with only one survivor as the rest were taken out by the fallout in the ensuing explosion.

But it marked a turning point in the Coalition-Thedosian war.

31:56-32:00 Eternal

Following The Sacrifice, the Thedosian Empire launches an all-out assault against the alien coalition with everything they could muster; from a huge army of warrior magi to the most sophisticated weaponry they could arm their ships with, they attack with tremendous force, unbreaking and unyielding to the alien defenders.

The aliens also muster their fleets to combat the offensive, but they find themselves unable to beat back the assault force as they lacked the resolve the Thedosians had.

Until 31:88 Eternal, Thedosian forces wrench control of more than 500 planets under the aliens' control, using brutal tactics to turn battles into massacres for the aliens and magically-conjured barrages against the more heavily defended areas to whittle down enemy forces.

A new ship class was also developed, called the Emperor-class. At a staggering 50 kilometers in length, it bore multiple crystaline turrets capable of focusing magical energies supplied by Amado power cells and a much larger hangar bay to house more fighter craft and drones than previous ships.

It was known as the _TE Ascension of the Brigand_ , and had an escort fleet of 2,000 ships to aid its conquest of the alien planet Garinos Prime.

Admitedlly, even the aliens were shocked at the sheer size of the ship that attacked, and were panicking in an attempt to take out the 'demonic monstrosity' that attacked and obliterated their entire patrol fleet effortlessly.

But good things never lasted long, especially with the unexpected death of High Emperor Emmanuel Sardothien and his brother in the battle of Tempest II in alien-controlled space.

It was a disaster; the thousand-strong Thedosian fleet was ambushed by a larger fleet five times their strength, and are quickly surrounded with no hope of escape. Rather than surrender, though, all chose to die an honourable death in battle rather than live as a slave under He'lith rule.

Any ship that was compromised by boarding parties quickly overloaded their Amado reactor cores and rammed straight into enemy ranks, taking a considerable number of enemy ships with them; all Thedosian ships were destroyed, but more than two thousand alien ships were destroyed in the process.

The aliens also saw that many of their planets were quickly becoming victims of unnaturally occuring natural disasters, and were starting to become geogically unstable by unknown means.

Sebastian's son, Delmalrith was crowned the new High Emperor, and proved to be just as capable a commander and leader as his uncle was, his tactical expertise and compassion for his people developed through years of waging wars against the aliens.

He gives the order to develop a new ship class, its size and fighting capabilities far surpassing even that of the Emperor-class ships.

In 31:89 Eternal, Thedosian forces score a major victory at the industrial world of Altair III, an alien fleet of 200,000 ships defeated by only half the number of Thedosian ships. The alien nations of Nadiita and Seq'illu quickly succumb to the constant attacks Thedosians made on their terriotry and internal strife as supremacists war with their current governments.

They were shown no mercy when they were conquered. As they had also enslaved previous alien races and caused their absolute extinction when the slaves rebelled, they suffered the same fate their captives had.

The remaining alien nations of the He'lith empire and Nanida become afraid of the eventual fate they would suffer as their allies had and attempt to drive back their enemies with the remnants of their fleet, but they soon dealt with demoralized soldiers unwilling to fight the Thedosians any longer.

Left with no other choice, the alien generals take desperate measures to make sure their armies fought without concern of the Thedosians' strength; instead of fearing the Thedosians, they would make their solders fear them.

If anyone was suspected of being a coward, their friends and comrades were ordered to brutally beat them to death. As many as 20,000 alien soldiers met their agonizing death in such a way.

Deciding that it was best not to antagonize their commanding officers any further, aliens troops and ships attack once more with a fervor to not suffer a humiliating death at the hands of their own friends.

But the grounds had been set for the defeat of both alien nations.

In 31:90 Eternal, the first 'true' dreadnought had entered military service.

A large behemoth of a ship, it stood at over a hundred kilometers in length and was capable of ferrying thousands of troops to the battlefield at any one time, and hundreds of vehicles along with the hangar's capacity to deploy at least two Vanguard-class ships that serve as carriers for fighter craft.

An elven soldier was kind enough to note that 'wherever the TE Dragon's Honor went, the aliens would wet their pants and just run away from battle, the commanding officers trying their best not to break down and whimper before the sheer majesty of the ship.

Within the next ten years, both the He'lith Empire and Nanida Hierarchy fall to the Thedosian war machine, their economy in ruins as they ruthlessly spent their money and resources to fund the war effort.

All alien civilians are released from captivity and sent their way, but something mysteriously exterminates them. Investigations reveal that they were suffering from an unknown disease, and that they were dying out even before the war started.

When the war between the alien coalition and Thedosian Empire ended, there were no raptuous cheers erupting among the troops, neither was there any feast and celebration, as too many of their cherished ones had perished in the war.

Unfortunately, there would be no end to the Eternal war just yet, and the six years of peace the Empire enjoyed was spent rebuilding military might and refitting all ships in preperation.

32:06 Eternal

It was the year that the worst war in history was ever recorded. As a patrol fleet suddenly disappeared, a team was sent to investigate the cause. As a result, a new alien species was encountered, but the alien lifeforms were far worse than even the He'lith and their allies, as they had incredibly adaptive genes and ways to utilize them to weaken the Thedosian armanda.

More history detailing the war effort against the alien lifeforms was lost, but they had managed to find the name of the alien plague they fought against.

Tyranids.

54:90 Eternal

The Thedosian-Tyranid war had been a war for survival. Everyday, Thedosians struggle to fight back the Tyranids on every planet they come across. To deny the Tyranids space for their hives, they nuke every planet to turn them into radioactive wastelands.

But it was not enough. Having seen what the Tyranids are capable of, Delmalrith sanctions a research project to create a weapon capable of wiping out the Tyranids to prevent younger races from suffering the fate of being their fodder.

It was a lengthly process, researching the best method to wipe out the Tyranids and actually assembling it, and by the time it was finished, the Empire was beaten back to its homeplanet, the inhabitants ready to make one final stand.

The weapon, known as the Gauntlet, was powered using magic to wipe out any Tyranids by attacking the Hive mind itself, but there was one catch; it required the lifeforce of one willing candidate to power the machine, killing the operator in the process.

It was then that the High Emperor himself had volunteered to fire the weapon.

On 23 Harvestmere, 54:90 Eternal, the Gauntlet had fired, killing every Tyranid to have ever existed through a magical wave sweeping throughout the time continuum, eliminating the Hive mind.

It was a feat no one thought possible, and for the first time since the He'lith-Thedosian war, the people had cheered and celebrated the defeat of the Tyranids.

It was also the end of the Eternal war, one that lasted for a few good millennium.

The _TE Halamshiral_ is lost due to a malfunction in the Shangari portal-drive, only one person reported alive before the ship disappeared.

But the damage had also been done. More than a thousand planets had to be cleaned of radiation and reinhabited to restore the Thedosian Empire back to it's former glory. As Delmalrith had been killed when firing the Gauntlet, his two-year old son Amarthathor was next in line.

He was too young to be High Emperor, so his cousin, Daniel Cousland was made temporary regent until the Sardothien child was of suitable age to govern and rule.

54:91 Eternal

The first agricultural planet had been decontaminated and returned to its natural, pristine state. Yggdrasil's Utopia was a breadbasket of the Empire once more.

Progress was made in rebuilding the army, but it would be a full two centuries before the Empire had anything resembling a significant military force.

The first few mineral farms had been reestablished, securing a suitable source of materials vital for the rebuilding effort.

54:92 Eternal

As the rebuilding efforts continue, a science crew stumbles on yet another alien construct. Resembling the one they had destroyed prior to the He'lith war, it is also destroyed to cut off a gateway into their territory.

Realising that much technology had been lost during the Eternal war, science teams are dispatched to several ex-battlefields and sites of massacre to recover long-lost technological marvels that would greatly boost recovery efforts.

A huge need for music prompted musicians to discover and write new music to soothe the weary minds of war veterans.

54:98 Eternal

More than two hundred colonies had been rebuilt, and ground forces had been replenished by over sixty percent, but the space navy was still less than thirty percent of its former strength before the Eternal war.

A derelict ship of unknown build was found adrift in space, prompting an immediate response by the nearest patrol fleet and a few science teams to investigate.

An egg was found on the ship and taken back to a research facility for study, but after a few days since its arrival in the facility, the egg hatches to reveal a sort of insectoid creature, but did not share the same features as the He'lith.

It is discovered to be a queen of its race, called the Rachni. It revealed that it was the last queen of its race due to the other queens being corrupted mentally by what is only known as the 'sour note'.

The news did not bode well for the Empire, so the Rachni queen is granted asylum in Empire space on the world of Ganath, due to the queen's ability to survive and thrive in toxic environments.

The Rachni queen agrees to reveal the properties of the previously unknown element kept in storage, now known as Element Zero, or Eezo for short. More experiments with the material commence, thanks to ways of extracting it being shared by the Rachni queen.

55:00 Eternal

Another one hundred colonies are brought under Empire control and fortified with heavy defenses.

Tests reveal that Element Zero has capabilities to reduce the mass of any object or material to zero, but suggestions to apply it to their tech are overruled as it did not react well with magic or the technology they used.

Once transmutation was used on the mineral though, the result was an artificially created isotope of Element Zero that still retained the same chemical properties of the original material, but safe to handle with the absent radiation and able to implement with their current technology and actually amplify it.

The isotope is dubbed Extrasolarium, or Exso for short, and mass production of the isotope in mineral farms begins.

55:05 Eternal

Rachni now inhabit more than four planets in Thedosian space, but still do not have the numbers to form a substantial military force. Nonetheless, it becomes common to see Rachni workers aiding in the rebuilding efforts and wandering the streets.

Due to their rarity and idiosyncratic behaviour and child-like personalities, they are accepted with little trouble and more than a few have become good friends of Thedosian children and adults.

Exso applications to both ship and infantry weaponry have proved highly beneficial as their range and firing speed is greatly increased.

Yet another True dreadnought is completed and deployed into military service, dubbed the _TE Eternal Guardian_. It becomes the flagship of the entire Thedosian Armanda.

55:06 Eternal

The Rachni become official citizens of the Thedosian Empire, much to the joy of many.

The first Rachni ship is constructed using Exso technology that the Rachni developed with a few elements of Thedosian tech. It is outfitted with a hyperdrive developed by a joint Thedosian-Rachni project and is capable of traveling 500 light-years a day.

Alien ruins on the edge of Thedosian space are discovered; due to the case of Rachni being corrupted by unknown influences, only Thedosians are deployed to investigate the site.

It contains mentionings of an alien race known as the Protheans, which had mysteriously disappeared no less than 50,000 years ago to unknown causes. Samples of alien tech are discovered and kept for study, but much to the Empire's disappointment, it is far less advanced than even Exso technology.

It also mentions the alien constructs they destroyed were called mass relays, and that they were part of a very large network that spanned multiple star systems, with a station known as the Citadel that apparently serves both as the center of the entire mass relay network and the hub of government for the entire alien community.

No one liked the fact that technology was being simply left behind so that other races may be the victim of a technological trap. All Thedosians become extremely wary of the mass relays and prepare to destroy every one they come across.

As the ruins do not have much to offer in terms of technology, the Prothean ruins are scrapped for resources whilst the information found in the beacon is documented for further reference should any other Prothean ruins be discovered.

55:07 Eternal

The Rachni are officially inducted into the Thedosian military. Rachni soldiers are able to traverse difficult terrain easily due to their physical build and quickly dig trenches, the latter being helpful in the case a battlegroup is surrounded by enemies.

55:18 Eternal

Rachni workers become more common in greater numbers across Thedosian space and can be found aiding in many construction projects.

More Rachni ships are constructed and bolster the Thedosian Armanda's ranks, though it will be several more years before the Rachni can boast suitable military strength by Thedosian standards.

Yet another site of Prothean ruins are found; this time the beacon has information as to why the Protheans suddenly disappeared from the face of the galaxy.

The answer was that the Citadel itself was a gigantic mass relay, programmed to activate when something known as the 'Cycle' began every fifty thousand years. The ones who built the Citadel and mass relays were a race of AI machines called the Reapers. Information about the Reapers' origins is extremely vague at best, as even the Protheans were unsure about how they came into existence.

None of it sounds good for the Thedosian Empire, and immediately puts the entire military and space Armanda on alert for any potential Reaper tech. Orders were to destroy any found Reaper tech on sight.

55:20 Eternal

A portion of former He'lith territory has been colonized and scoured of alien ruins, with another mass relay destroyed in the process.

The year signifies the beginning of the Golden Age of Prosperity, following a surge of growth in arts and culture and many famous musicians and artists and the like emerging and beginning to gain widespread fame.

For the first time since the Eternal war, veterans and survivors write their war diaries for all to read.

The current ruling Emperor, Amarthathor, orders the construction of a courtyard with great stone statues commemorating the sacrifice of many great heroes, though many more are forgotten by name.

55:21 Eternal

The end of the Eternal war is declared a national holiday.

55:25 Eternal

A derelict transport is found adrift in space, sensors picking up only one lifeform being preserved in a sort of stasis pod, and that the transport was built of eezo.

When a team is sent to investigate, they find an young human male in the stasis pod. When he awakes in a hospital, the child is found to have no memories regarding his past. Amarthathor decides to take the child under his care and names him Aldrige.

55:80 Eternal

As many as 80,000 Thedosian soldiers form a vigilante group known as the Silent Marauders. They bear an insignia of two arms crossing each other; one holding a pistol, the other a combat knife.

56:04 Eternal

A complete revamp of the military is conducted, restructuring the chain of command and organisation of the troops in different fleets and assault units.

56:10 Eternal

Yet another ship disappears due to the same cause following the _TE Halamshiral_ several decades prior, prompting scientists and engineers to investigate the flaws in the portal-drive.

59:90 Eternal

The remnants of a battlefield are discovered on a previously unknown planet, containing alien artifacts emitting a strange radio wave that probes the minds of Thedosians on sight. When the Rachni recognise it as the 'sour note', the artifacts are immediately destroyed and research on protecting vulnerable minds from the indoctrinating signal begins.

61:80 Eternal

Strange fluctuations in the time continuum are discovered by draconian magi. The causes are under investigation.

63:90 Eternal

First contact is made with an intergalactic community and three independent nations, the former known as the Azerothian Coalition and the latter being the Pandaren Republic, Arakkoa Collective, and Dragonflight Alliance.

The Azerothian Coalition is found to have the same type of government with the exception of the grand leader being a High King, but the main difference is that every race must choose a representative to govern the Coalition for a maximum of not more than twenty years, and the people have to choose the candidate.

The members races of the Coalition are Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, High Elves, Blood Elves, Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Goblins, Worgen, Night Elves, and Draenei. Records state that there used to be an entire race of undead among their ranks, but they and their leader mysteriously disappear for unknown reasons.

The biggest surprise to all Thedosians is that there are other dragons on other worlds, though the Azerothians are equally surprised as well.

The _TE Halamshiral_ is found once more, and the only survivor recounts his time on Azeroth when it was still in its medieval ages. Another ship, known as the _UNSC Forward Unto Dawn_ is also discovered.

As the first contact progressed peacefully, the Empire and Coalition sign a trade agreement and open their borders to each other, allowing tourism to flourish and setting off a new wave of immigration between both nations.

63:92 Eternal

Two years since the signing of the trade agreement have seen relations improve between the two powers greatly to the point that the formation of an alliance between the two powers was speculated about.

More than a few Thedosians have made friends with Pandaren farmers and lorewalkers, which becomes especially common in bars and eateries.

64:00 Eternal

It is the year the Thedosian Empire and Azerothian Coalition officially become allies for both friendship and mutual benefit, and is approved by the populace.

Following the signing of the alliance agreement, a group of Thedosian and Azerothian merchants band together to form an economic company known as the TedEx Cooperation, its main aim to facilitate trade between the two powers and improve quality of unknown goods.

65:83 Eternal

First contact is made with another galactic power known as the Koprulu Alliance. Consisting of three races, humans yet again, a psionically strong race called the Protoss, and a bio-organic race known as the Zerg.

Unlike the Thedosian Empire or Azerothian Coalition though, the races of the Koprulu Sector only ally for mutual benefit and military alliance as they were enemies before, so it was common to see that they were not sharing planets, only star systems.

Nonetheless, the Koprulu Alliance becomes another ally of the Thedosian Empire and also signs a trade agreement.

An agreement is made between the three powers to share the planet of Tarsonis and turn it into a transport hub for interchanging of goods between various trading companies of the three different powers. Thanks to terraforming technology and magic, the previously devastated planet of Tarsonis is made into a habitable planet for all races.

The denizens of the Koprulu Sector tend to isolate themselves from each other, though there have been cases of Thedosians and Azerothians living alongside the Terrans and Protoss as friendly neighbours.

There have been cases of Terrans prejudiced against psionics either beaten badly or suffered horrendous injuries, just for trying to send psionic children, who became friends of Thedosian children to the Ghost program without their knowledge.

As a result, Emperor Valerian of the Terran Dominion declares that candidates of the Ghost Program and Project Shadowblade shall no longer have their memories erased under a psi wipe.

65:85 Eternal

Another mass relay is discovered at the edge of known space, but before it could be destroyed, an entire fleet of alien ships pours forth from the relay, stopping every ship captain from giving the order.

Upon closer inspection, the race of aliens piloting the entire fleet goes by the name of Quarians.

 **A/N: Surprise, surprise! Quarians make first contact with the other powers, and Starcraft and Warcraft become part of my fanfic.**

 **I will admit, it has been rather hard writing this chapter, because I wanted the Dragon Age people to have experience in galactic war and, some of you may have guessed it, this is a stomp fic where the Citadel Council gets owned.**

 **Next chapter, first contact with the Geth!**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	5. A cry for vengeance

**Chapter four: A cry for vengeance**

Pain. Excruciating pain coursed though the woman's head as she struggled to awake from what seemed like an eternal slumber.

She struggled to recall whatever happened before she ended up dead, or at least she thought she was dead.

 _The_ Normandy _, attacked by Collectors who somehow managed to detect it despite the stealth drive fully functional, a bright golden beam shooting out of its spinal cannon and bypassing the kinetic barriers, turning much of the ship to nothing more than molten slag._

 _She ran past the burning debris scattered around her as she tried to rescue the head pilot in a futile attempt to save the already doomed ship from crashing._

 _Hot, burning pain seared through her arm as a molten hot piece of the ship's frame touched her arm and burnt through her armor, the smell of burning flesh lost in the vacuum of space._

 _Ignoring it through clenched teeth, she still rushed to the piloting bay in the hopes of saving the pilot of the ship. Come on, there was still time, please let there be time..._

 _Her hopes were fufilled as she found the head pilot still alive and wearing a respirator mask to avoid suffocating to death in the vacuum of space, fingers furiously typing on the holoboards before him._

" _Joker, the ship is lost! We need to go!" She tried to persuade the adamant pilot, still unwilling to leave his chair._

" _No way, Commander! I can still save her! Just gimme-" Joker started, but was abruptly cut off._

" _Evacuate from the ship. Now. That's an order." She said with a stern glare._

 _The pilot was extremely reluctant as he spent a few seconds mulling on what to choose, the safety of his own life, or that of his ship._

 _He moved out of his seat with much reluctance, deciding to follow his commander's order and move into an escape pod._

 _Before the Commander could join Joker though, another flaming piece of palladium blockaded the way between the two, leaving Joker as the only man with access to the still functioning escape pod._

 _Realising that he could not rescue his commander, not that she wanted to be anyway, he operated the controls and watched at the escape pod left its confines and moved away from the burning ship, just as it began to fall apart once more._

 _The commander could not escape this time, as she was ejected from the ship into the dark void of space, her respirator tube suddenly came loose, cutting off her supply of oxygen as she was pulled by the gravity of the nearest frozen planet._

That was all she managed to remember; by now the Systems Alliance would have labeled her as Killed In Action, or KIA for short, along with whoever did not survive and escape from the Normandy, and the ship itself will have become a pile of scrap metal, inoperable even with repairs.

As she awoke, her heavy eyelids slowly opened to take in the surroundings, hopefully providing some answers as to her whereabouts.

She lay in a brightly lit room containing plenty of medical equipment and monitors, no doubt for monitoring a patient's heartbeat like hers. Scapels, syringes, bottles half empty or full of medical tablets or capsules, even a near-empty container of medi-gel, as identified by the characteristic light green glow.

From any viewpoint, it looked like a normal hospital room she lay in whilst recovering from her severe injuries. But there was one noteable thing in the room that told her it was no ordinary medical facility, or at least not under any organisation she knew better.

An insignia of a hexagonal shape with two polygonal lines below lay coloured in a bright orange on a nearby wall. She knew which organisation the insignia represented, as all Systems Alliance and Citadel soldier were briefed on. It was an insignia of a terrorist organisation.

The insignia of Cerberus.

She was almost disgusted upon learning that she was in the care of a terrorist organisation, reeling at the thought of her, an Alliance soldier, being nursed back to health by Cerberus personnel, but the notion also confused her to a great degree.

Why would Cerberus even make the effort to bring her back to health in the first place? Weren't they literally sworn enemies of both the Alliance and Citadel Council? Weren't they xenophobic militants that used the excuse of 'making humanity better' through outrageous experiments that ended up costing thousands of lives?

Weren't they humans who simply hated the notion of other humans mating with aliens and killed them for just that? Then why did they even bother saving her if she was one of those 'other humans'?

She would have her answers one way or another, but right now, she needed to get out of bed and talk with one of the personnel. If they are willing to talk in the first place.

Just as she moved out of bed, the doors opened, most likely to a Cerberus agent or personnel who happened to pass by...

Or someone ordered to talk to her.

The Cerberus agent who entered the room was wearing a catsuit, dyed in the customary white and black of Cerberus with the insignia tailored on both her sleeves. She had fairly young and crisp features befitting that of a commanding agent despite her rather odd outfit, blue orbs for eyes that were able to assess the abilities of someone just by staring him down.

Long, black hair cascaded down her shoulders in straight lines, and she carried herself as one with a sense of authority, never straying eye contact as she met face to face with the most famous human Spectre in all of Council history.

"Commander Shepard?" Her rather deep, accented voice sounded as she said the woman's name. "I am Miranda Lawson, a Cerberus agent as you can see, and I have come to bring you to talk with the Illusive Man."

The Illusive Man? The leader of Cerberus and its founder? My oh my, what an honor she had.

"Why does the Illusive Man want to talk to me, of all people?" The now christened Shepard asked.

"That's for him to say, and I can't question his orders," Miranda replied.

It made rather good sense, given that the Illusive Man received his name, or title, depending on people's preference. The Illusive man had always managed to slip through both Alliance and Council forces time and again, despite the authority and skills the renowned Spectres had, so he could only meet agents he trusted personally in person, rather than a complete stranger.

But what was the reason he, of all people, wanted to talk with her about something? Why would he go through the trouble to bring back the famous Commander Shepard from the dead when they did not even meet each other in the first place?

Having no other choice, and seeing that she was thankfully dressed in skintight clothing, though it was in Cerberus colors, she said, "Where does he need to see me?"

"Follow me," Miranda beckoned, "I'll show you the way."

And follow Miranda she did, as Shepard allowed herself a brief look in the mirror to see just how much of a good job Cerberus did at repairing her.

Apart from a few recent scars, no doubt from the constant surgery they had to perform, she dared to say Cerberus did a job well-done.

Her face covered in pockmarks was still the same as before, brown eyes that bore a steely gaze befitting of a soldier, ears unevenly matched in height and lush, scarlet hair that only touched the bottom of her neck.

It was truly a job well-done, though she believed that Cerberus had to spend quite a fortune doing so.

IIOII

As she followed Miranda through the various corridors segregated by multiple sets of doors, she allowed herself to look at just how Cerberus personnel went about their daily tasks and other duties.

Engineers tossing around tools and other equipment whilst either maintaining functionality of various vehicles or checking the state of weapons being tested, scientists researching on whatever project Shepard did not bother wanting to know about...

The list could go on and on, but Cerberus was as organised as any military in the galaxy, which could explain why they managed to survive for so long.

Eventually they stopped short of an entrance where few personnel were moving past, and as Miranda beckoned Shepard inside the room, she steeled her nerves and took a deep breath, then entered past the doors.

As she walked inside the room though, bright orange lights swirled around her figure before the atmosphere changed from a plain, brightly illuminated room, to a sight Shepard never expected to see.

The sheer size of the star in the distance, clearly visible from the glass panes that served to isolate the recycled oxygen from the emptiness of space, was the only light source that illuminated the entire room devoid of anything except a few holoscreens showing random bits of information, and a branded chair housing a lone figure.

That lone figure was a man, a middle aged man nearing the prime of his life as strands of grey matted part of his otherwise vibrant honey colored hair. His features bore a few wrinkles and lines, but the eyes were not natural at all. No, they bore artificial lights glowing turquoise and lacked the white sclera other eyes had.

From Shepard's point of view, something must have caused the man to lose his sight, which caused him to replace his originally organic eyeballs with artificial ones.

"Shepard," His baritone, slightly aged voice greeted as he acknowledged her presense, or at least her hologram, "Good to finally meet you. I'm the Illusive Man, as you can already guess."

"Suppose so." Shepard replied the gesture dryly, "Now straight to the point. Why did you bring me back?"

The Illusive Man did not seem offended by Shepard's disreguard of his authority at all, or if he was, he was not showing any signs of being offended. He then proceeded to explain, "Recently, not more than a few weeks ago, unknown aliens have begun abducting human colonists all over Alliance space. By the time the Alliance military respond, they are already well beyond the Alliance's reach."

He brought up a holoscreen that displayed images of what the unknown aliens looked like, and their ships as well; four-eyed, bipedal creatures that lacked any sort of orfice and bore sickly brown skin, an orange glowing rifle in its hands. The ships looked like they were made from nothing more than scrap, pieces of metal roughly hewn together under the premise of not falling apart. Otherwise, they looked like rough drillheads that had their edges dulled.

"These aliens are known as Collectors," He called the aliens, "And they were responsible for nearly killing you and destroying the original Normandy."

Original? Could that mean...

"Even though we do not... get along, with the Alliance, we still have humanity's best interests at heart, and as a whole, Cerberus wishes to put a stop to the human abductions happening in the galaxy."

"And that, Shepard, is where you come in." The Illusive Man finished as he inhaled a puff from his cigratte.

Now the picture became clear. In order for Cerberus to fully investigate how the Collectors managed to abduct humans whilst outpacing the Alliance military, they would need the aid of one of the best soldiers humanity has to offer, and the very first human Spectre, to top it all off.

She would try to appeal to the Council for aid, but the three pigheads simply outright refused to believe whatever she said unless it truly concerned them.

From the threat of an ancient threat returning to the galaxy to informing them that the Citadel was, in fact, one gigantic mass relay did warrant their concern, but they saw all of it as nonsense or threats to their positions of power, and to the galaxy's current status quo.

Most of all, the Alliance would sinply bring her in for questioning as they did not trust Cerberus at all, since they labeled the organisation as mere untrustworthy terrorists.

Already, she could feel her options beginning to lower in number, as the Alliance had suddenly become unreliable due to her KIA status, leaving... no one. No one left to lend her aid in such a desperate time.

"There is one more thing to bring to your attention, Shepard," The Illusive Man suddenly uttered, breaking the Spectre of her train of thought, "Three things, in fact."

Shepard could have sworn that the Illusive Man actually sighed heavily before bring several things to her attention.

"First, the entire Quarian Migrant fleet has disappeared off the face of the galaxy."

Now _that_ was serious. The Quarian Migrant Fleet, most ships either salvaged or still holding through constant maintainance, still was the single largest fleet in the entire galaxy, boasting naval strength as high as more than 40,000 ships. The fact that they suddenly disappeared was disconcerting.

"Any idea why?" She inquired, eager to find out the fate of the Quarians, including one of her close friends and teammates when she chased the rouge Spectre Saren Arterius.

Tali'Zorah vas Rayya.

Tali had proven herself a skilled engineer and hacker in both battlefield and at home, her expertise extremely helpful in overcoming many of the technological traps and blockades Saren and his agents set up to prevent them from succeeding.

To hear that she along with the rest of her kind was beyond disconcerting, though the Council wouldn't care since they labeled them as the famous boogeymen of the galaxy for creating the Geth.

Even so, she would not abandon them so simply like that.

"Second, over seventy percent of the Geth suddenly left, and no trace of Rannoch has been found, leaving only a small fraction still causing widespread mayhem."

The Quarians were the first to go, but the Geth as well? Especially the news about Rannoch suddenly disappearing sounding especially fishy to her, and no doubt the Illusive Man as well.

"Third, both a huge number of Krogan clans and the planet of Tuchanka have also disappeared in the same way, leaving no trace as to why such a thing occured. The only Krogan left are those of the Blood Pack and a particular Warlord Okeer."

Now it was getting more and more incredulous by the second with every word uttered from the de-facto terrorists' leader's mouth.

"And how did they exactly disappear? All of them?" Shepard demanded, her mind leaving no room for politeliness.

The Illusive Man simply reclined in his chair, his earlier smile fading and replaced with a grim, uncertain expression as he took another puff of smoke.

"I hope you are ready, Shepard, for we knew that one of them was a good friend of yours."

That did not sound good. At all.

"What about them?" Shepard asked, trepidation beginning to fill the tone of her voice.

The middle aged man sighed heavily, as he cooled his burning cigratte in a nearby ashtray, moving a hand to a built-in console on the armrest of his chair.

"It would be easier to show you."

As he brought up an image on screen. Shepard's worst fears came true in front of her eyes, as she gasped visibly, not believing what was happening before her very eyes.

On the holoscreen, thousands upon thousands of ship wreckages, Quarian in design, lay adrift and derilict in space, all bearing visible damage; some were cut cleanly in half by a sort of laser beam, others were lucky enough to simply bear large, gaping holes along the hull whilst miraculously still intact from all the damage sustained.

But other than shipwrecks, bodies, Quarian bodies lay scattered in space all around the graveyard of ships, some still retaining the dignity of having their faces intact, others burned or disected beyond repair.

Shepard spent every minute praying to God, hoping that Tali, and perhaps a few thousand Quarians had managed to survive the veritable massacre; the worst massacre she had ever seen in her whole life.

Not since the sacking of Torfan had she seen so many dead in one place at one time. Not since she saw many of her neighbours and beloved father die before her very eyes.

Not since she lost her beloved brother to the damned Batarian slaver gangs.

"Are there any survivors?" She asked the most logical question anyone would after seeing the horror being displayed.

"Not many, but there were," The Illusive Man answered, allowing Shepard to heave a sigh of relief. "Before they faced certain extinction, they managed to activate the nearby Relay 214 and flee through before it unexpectedly shut down."

To better illustrate his point, he replaced the image with a video that played footage captured from a Cerberus scout vessel.

In the video, many Quarian ships that showed major fires burning along their hull scuttling towards the mass relay they had managed to activate just moments before another one was bisected in half from a lance of bright emerald green.

As the first few Quarian ships managed to escape through the relay, another green lance shot forth towards the recording camera, then... nothing but static; undoubtedly the camera was destroyed during the recording.

"We've sent forth scout vessels to try and reactivate the relay, but to no effect, even after numerous attemps and simultaneously sending streams of code." The Illusive Man said after the video ended, pinching the bridge of his nose as hard as he could.

Shepard could swear he was actually crying before her.

"We could not even decipher the mystery behind the sudden, bleak disappearance of the two planets either, and much of the galaxy's Krogan population gone in the process, which narrows down two possibilities we could think of; one, another organisation or perhaps, another race used a form of FTL that did not rely on using the mass relays." He explained, trying his best to school his expression.

"And the other?" Shepard inquired, eager to know.

He fought to keep calm as he opened his mouth and uttered the very answer which was such a huge embarassment.

"Magic."

Suddenly the Illusive Man's embarassment became far more understandable. Why? It is because Cerberus, despite its repute as a man-slaughtering, supremacist organsation, has always prided itself on offering the best technology humanity had to offer through long-established beliefs of hard logic and dismissing of the impossible.

Now though, the Illusive Man, the very leader and founder of the organisation, who had also established those very ideals, was forced to accept the facts and bite on his pride doing so.

However, it was no laughing matter at that point. If there really was another race, organisation, or more importantly, perhaps... another galactic power which had such capabilities at its disposal; the ability to change the locations of entire planets to other star systems, to be able to shut down a mass relay and prevent its reactivation, to suddenly transport massive populations without using the mass relays as a form of FTL...

Shepard was sure the Council would suddenly encounter a massive titan too massive for it to subdue or coerce into submission. Not by the Turian Hierarchy, not by the Asari Republic, and most likely, not even the Salarian Union.

She shuddered at the potentially cataclysmic events that would follow soon afterward.

"As disappointing as it may seem, we will have to focus on the Collectors for now, Shepard," The Illusive Man said, causing Shepard's features to soften slightly, "We can investigate this mystery later. Right now, the Collectors are the more immediate threat."

He was right, the Collectors were currently the threat to all humankind and the Systems Alliance as a whole. As it was mainly human colonists being abducted, Cerberus had every reason to be invested in combating the threat.

"And do not worry, Shepard. While you were still being rebuilt, our best engineers have made the effort to build a new stealth ship for you to commandeer. As for the aesthetics, it would be best for you to see for yourself. Miranda will guide you to the hangar bay for that."

"I hope we can talk again, Shepard." The Illusive Man finished as he cut the connection, changing Shepard's environment back to the plain, white room she was always in.

IIOII

Miranda was waiting at the exit, arms crossed and fingers tapping in calm observation. With a motioning of her hand, she guided Shepard through the corridors to a large, spacious facility that looked able to house a dreadnought-sized vessel.

And right before her very eyes... was a sight she did not expect at all.

Although painted in Cerberus' standard black and white, the aesthetics were exactly the same as the one she had commandeered when she was still in active service. The sloping angles that gave the ship's look as an insect's head, the large thrusters that would always glow blue whenever burning fuel to power the ship's movement...

And on the sides were painted the words _Normandy SR-2_.

It was truly a sight for sore eyes as she reveled in the beauty of the newly-rebuilt _Normandy_ resting in the hangar bay. If only a certain head pilot were here to bring out its full potential...

"Like the new beauty, Commander?"

 _That voice... could it be?_ Shepard's thoughts raced in her mind as she turned around to acknowledge-

Joker. He was alive this whole time. Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, head pilot of the Normandy and best in the entire Systems Alliance.

Well, _was_ the best, given that he was wearing Cerberus colours now.

And he was still the same man Shepard liked to talk to about the Normandy's performance and how upgrades could influence it as a whole. A fairly young man, limping from Vrolik's Syndrome making his bones brittle, his soft features bearing a slight beard and brown eyes filled with vigor.

"So why did you come to Cerberus?" Shepard asked, though not out of anger considering that Joker was one of Shepard's close friends.

Joker's earlier smile disappeared and set into a tight line as he said, "Ever since your death, I've been pleading to Alliance Parliamentary time and again to put forth a search party to find you, or at least... your remains."

"And I'm guessing they refused?" Shepard guessed.

"Exactly. No matter the reason, they simply refused to grant permission to do so, giving me bullshit like 'We can't risk showing weakness' or 'It's not worth the trouble' and stuff like that. Eventually I just... left."

The two then stayed silent for a while, allowing themselves to recollect their bearings and reflect on all the events that transpired the past two years. For the Asari, it would simply be a blink in their lives. For the others though, it felt like an eternity, especially since they did not have the same lengthly lifespan Asari had.

"I heard about what happened to the Quarian fleet, Commander. From the Illusive Man." Joker said, trying to alieviate the tension in the air.

"Figures."

The silence became pregnant to the point that the tension was so thick, every moment stretched for an eternity. It was becoming uncomfortable to think about the fate of the Quarian survivors for even just one second.

"We'll find Tali, Commander," Joker suddenly said in an effort to ease the pain Shepard was feeling, "I'm sure."

"I only wish I could share your enthusiasm," Shepard said solemnly.

"So when do we start?"

IIOII

Frustration. It was all Captain Ghazig of the six dozen strong slaver fleet he was currently commanding. In all honesty, he found absolutely no value in trying to reactivate Relay 214 as it stubbornly refused to respond to the code somehow.

The Citadel Council had originally implemented an iron clad law that no one, absolutely no one was to reactivate the mass relays without proper permission eversince the Rachni wars.

In the case of Relay 214 though, the law did not need to be enacted at all. The Relay just sat there... inactive and unresponsive. This was a huge mystery that needed to be solved, but being the Council, the Councilors were simply content to leave it be if it meant no foreign enemies were able to invade.

There was a possibility of encountering other hostile races beyond the relay, of course, but to the numerous Batarian slaver gangs, the prospect of enslaving huge numbers of a new race was always so lucrative, so attractive that they were willing to forego precautions to make a quick buck.

But the damned relay was still unresponsive, even after thirty continuous minutes of sending the same code over and over again.

Ghazig was tiring of this cherade. Either the relay would activate in the next five minutes, or he and his gang will simply leave and find their fortune elsewhere.

Just as he was about to give up, however, the relay suddenly came to life at the last possible minute, the gyroscopic rings in the relay's core surrounding a fresh core of dark energy.

Seems that waiting for half an hour wasn't so bad after all, Ghazig thought to himself as he ordered his ships through Relay 214.

No one would realise the huge blunder he had made in his entire career; a blunder that would cost him his very life.

IIOII

Amarthathor was sipping the last drops of his Elven tea when ship ensigns began scrambling to their stations as alarms began blaring throughout the ship, arming themselves in the case of boarding parties as they maintained military-grade coordination despite the chaos that ensued.

Quickly finishing his drink, he put down the cup and rushed towards the main strategy room where a large, round holoboard began to show new ships of unfamiliar design entering their space.

Many of the larger ships looked bulky and rather angular like the _Foward Unto Dawn_ , though their largest size was only about a kilometer or more, whilst many smaller ones were simply less angular.

"Taenith, what have you managed to find from their databanks?" The Emperor asked.

A nearby projector illuminated and motes of light materialized to reveal a hologram in the form of an Elf bearing silver hair and dark skin, wearing the customary slim-fit dark coloured armor of Dark Elves and a cape in a lighter shade of auburn, a bow slung across his torso.

Taenith was one of the new generation combat AI made to be able to serve as both hackers and shock troopers, and the current AI serving on board the _Lone Survivor_ who had yet to see actual combat.

The AI reported, "Managed to pull data far easier than pouring hot water without tongs. Have to say, their Cyber defenses are far weaker than I expected, and their ships bear heavy traces of Element Zero, to add to insult."

That would mean this new race had simply copied Prothean technology rather than finding other ways to use the element. It also meant that instead of using advanced AI, they used rather simplistic AI that passed off as VI, or Virtual Intelligences for short.

Just then, a holoscreen reported signs of the shield gauge dropping to 93% from a full salvo of Eezo projectiles fired from their cannons; obviously the now-turned enemy thought them easy pickings as they were outnumbered.

How eager Amarthathor was to prove them wrong.

"Taenith, send a call for aid to the _Foward Unto Dawn_ and _Hyperion_ ," The draconian-in-elven-form ordered, "I don't want to risk any of these ships escaping through the relay before we dispatch them."

Taenith wordlessly nodded, and his avatar vanished in a mass of swirling pixels as he went about his duty.

Aldrige had already donned his combat armor and brought his favourite weapons as well, a customary sword and shield for all Crusaders ready to fight their enemies.

"The ship crew is ready, High Emperor," An Elven ensign reported, "We await only your order."

His fangs flashed as his mouth curled into a savage grin, ready to give the order his crew would faithfully follow unto their deaths.

"Fire."

IIOII

Ghazig only had time to blink before a large projectile of coalesced emerald energy spouted forth from the large spinal cannon that revealed itself once several metal plates concealing it began to retract.

It completely reduced the only dreadnought they had into scattered pieces of wreckage unrepairable and scorched beyond recognition.

Before he could issue the order to retreat, however, another orb of emerald green had sped towards his ship, smashing it to pieces by burning the armored hull.

It was the last thing Ghazig would ever see.

IIOII

Satisfied at the first two largest ships being taken down, he ordered the crew to spare at least one ship, so that when they boarded it, they could take a few prisoners to interrogate and find out why they attack them.

Despite the ship not having sustained any damage or casualties, Amarthathor was unwilling to allow the provocation to go unanswered.

Once again, the main cannon fired and took out yet another of the pathetically puny-sized ships that tried to dodge the orb of energy, to little effect. Afterwards, the metallic plates that originally concealed the cannon shifted back to their original positions.

Now it was the secondary arnaments' turn to deal the damage; the Extrasolarium used in the manufacturing of the various turrets should do their job of lowering the mass of the projectiles and energy lances fired from them, so the enemy ships should have a hard time dodging them.

"Just one thing, Emperor," Taenith interrupted his command briefly, "These enemies call themselves Batarians and... practice slavery."

The last word was uttered with venom lacing the AI's voice, and it caused Amarthathor's mood to sour incredibly, and everyone else's as well; every last Thedosian hated slavery to the point of being disgusted at it's very existense.

Now their objective was to interrogate them to find out just who ordered them to invade their territory in the first place.

Unfortunately, much to their frustration, the sheer firing rate of the Batarians' ships have ruled out the option of boarding even one of them; even if the shuttle were to manage to reach it's intended ship, the sheer number of fighter craft that they call 'destroyers' would swarm them in minutes, taking them out by ramming if they realise that it was the only option they had.

 _Damnit, slippery bastards will manage to call for help._

Which meant that they had to scatter what little fighter craft they had; only about five fighters currently rested in the hangar bay, as the _Lone Survivor_ had to compensate it's lack of supplies for a lengthly observation of the relay by taking space in the hangar for supply storage, and the nearest colony's garrison was severly understaffed at the moment.

Not to mention that none of their fighter craft were stealth-capable, due to lack of a proper stealth drive.

Their only hope of preventing any surviving ships from escaping now, was to wait for reinforcements currently on their way. The _Foward Unto Dawn_ and _Hyperion_ , no one could compete with their ship commanders when it came to maintaining battle concentration. Well, at least no one who thought waging war was a piece of cake.

The battle continued to rage on, as Batarian ships begin to pound the _Lone Survivor's_ shielding through continuous barrages of their main cannons, hoping to wear down the shielding in the process.

It was a very lengthly process; for every salvo of Eezo slugs impacting the robust iridiscent barrier protecting the Lone Survivor, it only weakened by a fraction of its original strength, causing more Batarian ships to be taken down whilst sacrificing valuble time they could have used to escape the pointless fight.

Eventually, the odds began to tip towards the Thedosian side more, as they already had a huge technological advantage, which greatly aided the Thedosians in the battle despite being outnumbered seventy-two to one.

More and more Batarian ship wreckages began to litter the space surrounding the mass relay, whilst the Thedosian ship barely suffered any scratches on it's paintwork.

Unfortunately, their sheer numbers meant that some would be able to escape through the mass relay that they blockaded using special jamming employed by Taenith.

As the first few began to engage their FTL drives in an attempt to escape, the Thedosians' morale is instantly boosted by the arrival of two ships they were very familiar with.

Two ships entered the fray, one angular and slightly straightfoward in design. Composed of a dark, shining steel blue, it is armed to the teeth with the latest Inferno laser turrets and the most powerful Magnetically-Accelerated Cannon to date. On it's side are the words _UNSC Foward Unto Dawn._

The other ship, made of a much darker, dull black metal exits through a black hole, smaller in size than the _Foward Unto Dawn_. Though much more utalitarian in design, it bears the latest and most powerful Yamato cannon glowing an amber orange and brimming with energy. It is easily identified by the large name of _Hyperion_ printed on its side.

Reinforcements had come.

It was time to begin the fight in earnest.

IIOII

The Captain of the frigate he commanded was in the worst of situations as of now. Two more unknown ships have arrived and joined the fray as allies of the strangely designed ship whose barrier they desperately tried to break. To make matters worse, said ship began to intensify it's assault by sending out fighter craft and several shuttles to swarm the ships.

The shuttles, he would have ordered the ship's crew to immediately gun them down where they were, but in a seemingly suicidal fit of aggressiveness, they sped up to speeds thought impossible even for shuttles, and rammed straight into several frigates, catching them off guard.

The Batarian commander began shaking in his pants, unsure of what to do next, except...

His eyes lay on the pistol magnetically strapped to his waist, and he knew there was only one way this whole scenario would end.

He unstrapped his pistol and primed it, prompting the rest of the crew to do the same with their other weapons, whilst fully aware of the carnage that ensued in the battle.

Just then, the ship rocked from sustaining a heavy impact, causing many crew members to lose their footing and drop their weapons in the process.

"Captain!" A ship ensign called frantically, "We're being boarded by several contacts who just rammed us with a shuttle! We have to-"

Whatever he wanted to say next was abruptly cut off as a shard of solid ice imapled his head like a kebab stick, spilling rivers of blue blood all over the metallic floor.

As he fell, soldiers dressed in varying colours streamed into the command room brandishing all manner of weapons that should have bided their time as antiques or artefacts in musuems, along with firearms that did not resemble any design they knew.

The crew's weapons did nothing to pierce their armor, and their kinetic barrier did nothing to try and protect them from whatever manner of bullets or energy lances were fired from the barrels of the enemies' guns.

Worse, their coordination was on a scale never seen before in any military; even the Hierarchy's forces weren't capable of such a feat, but at the same time, they were not Geth at all as they were the only others ones who could do such a thing.

 _Somebody help me, somebody-_

Within seconds, all of the security guards were finished before they could even escape, whilst any surviving crew members were captured and bound by strange glowing, turquoise coloured energy cuffs.

No matter how much he struggled, the cuffs were as sturdy as a thresher maw's hide, impossible to break out of with sheer brute strength.

The Batarian captain could only speculate what kind of interrogation he would be subject to, as these new aliens-

No, they were human, or at least some of them are, while others had some sort of pointy ears or were short and stubby, or were very tall and had large horns protruding from their foreheads, which meant that they did not attack one, but many races.

 _The Hegemony is surely going to pay the ultimate price for such a blunder on their part,_ the Batarian captain thought to himself as he was hauled away.

IIOII

A lone ship lay still, operational and waiting in space as it observed the battle waged between the Batarian fleet and unknown ships whilst trying to find out the reason for Relay 214's inactivity, using a camera unit they managed to install on one of the Batarian ships without their knowing.

The unknowns had turned out to have much more advanced technology than the Batarians and both experience and knowledge in waging all-out war, making the battle extremely one-sided.

But the way they managed to jam the interconnected relays and make sure they stayed that way did not make sense at all. No matter how many simulations were run, no matter how intelligent they were as evolved Intelligences, none of it computed at all.

They were Geth, and they would avenge the deaths of their creators at the hands of the alien species known as the Ethereals; no one, not even the Geth knew the real reason why they simply attacked the Quarian Fleet, but so many had died that they were sure they became extinct.

In a quest for vengeance, they had abandoned their creators' homeworld of Rannoch to find the Ethereals and make them pay dearly for their transgressions.

Since then, they had assimilated their advanced technology and become much more; no longer were they simply advanced VI who only operated by logic. They were true AI now, and they would find the Ethereals, with or without the Council's help.

No one would stand in the way of their revenge. No one.

"Have you managed to find out the cause of Relay 214's jamming?" A Geth prime asked.

"Not yet, but soon we will find out." Another Geth answered back.

"What about the causes of Rannoch's disappearance?"

"Still unknown as of now."

"Send out a probe beyond the relay," Another Geth suggested, "Maybe we can find out more if we scout the space on the other side."

"But what about the unknown ships?" A Geth hunter interjected, "All three have different IFFs, and we do not know how they will respond to our presense if they detect us."

"We will proceed," Said another Geth unflinchingly as it made itself known to the rest in the command room, radiating a clear sense of authority over the Geth present.

"Legion..." All the other Geth muttered its name as it assumed a commander's posture, observing the endless void of stars blanketing space.

Legion was one of the Geth assigned by the rest of the Consencus two years ago to search for Commander Shepard and try to find her, or at least what remained of her. When they found her remains, they found her body in a pile of charred meat and shattered bones, with only the helmet and brain missing.

As Legion had lost an arm in a fight against an Ethereal ship, he had to replace his arm by welding a piece of Shepard's armor to where its arm was supposed to be. He was easily identifiable by such a change in appearance, and quickly rose through the Geth ranks as a capable commander.

"One way or another," Legion said as he stared out through the large windshield, "We will find the Ethereals, and we cannot hide ourselves from the rest of the galaxy any longer."

The amount of weight Legion's words had on the rest of the Geth present had a profound effect on them, and without hesitation, they deployed a probe through the mass relay, watching it disappear in a flash of bright blue light engulfing it and shooting it past the construct.

Other Geth were monitoring the probe through a series of sensors built into the unit, which displayed the current information it was gathering on various holoscreens.

So far there were no complications; the probe was fully functional and no malfunctions were reported. It was all good. No one would interrupt them.

The probe extied FTL in a bright flash of light, proceeding to gather-

It was immobile, unable to respond to commands from the Geth ship on the other side of the relay. It received the command to self-destruct, but it would not; something was jamming its functions entirely.

"What is happening?" Legion demanded, eager to know how the probe's responsive sensors are not responding.

"Something is jamming the probe somehow," A Geth reported, "Not even the self-destruction protocol is working properly."

It should not be possible. None of it should be possible. They had upgraded their probes to have the latest anti-jamming and anti-EMP systems built into their systems ever since last month, and yet, somehow these unknowns have managed to do the impossible.

"Legion, an audio message is being sent to us through the drone right now." Another Geth said.

"Play it." Legion ordered.

It complied, and pressed a few buttons to allow the audio message to run through a translation matrix, though it seemed such an action was unnecessary, as it seemed already prepared for the Geth to easily hear.

"We are not fond of uninvited guests, but colour us interested. Who are you?"

Such a statement almost offended the Geth, but they could tell that these unknowns had fought other aliens before, and as such were much more wary of foreign powers next to their doorstep.

More information was being uploaded to the Geth probe, which in turn allowed the Geth to stream through the few megabytes of text that began displaying on the holoscreens at all the ensigns' stations.

Focusing on the more important parts, Legion could see that these unknowns were actually from three different superpowers, all possessing much more advanced technology than the whole Council combined.

The largest of the three ships was identified as the _Lone Survivor_ , and it was the greatest unknown of all three, belonging to the largest superpower beyond the relay known as the Thedosian Empire; the Thedosians gained their name by evolving on the same planet.

The second largest was the _Foward Unto Dawn_. At just slightly less than nine hundred and eighty metres in length, it had a less impressive design than the Lone Survivor, but had a large spinal cannon capable of eliminating an Ethereal ship, with strange readings detected by the drone at various sections of the ship. Legion was actually surprised to find that the Foward Unto Dawn was actually part of another fleet belonging to this 'UNSC', but it was now part of the Azerothian Coalition's fleet, yet another multi-racial galactic like the Empire.

The last one, called the _Hyperion_ was from an Alliance of only three species, known as the Korprulu Alliance, and the Alliance was actually the weakest of all three factions the Geth had encountered, and also had a large spinal cannon raidating huge energy readings, but had the most utalitarian design out of all three, the colour a dull grey that was hardly impressive to the eye.

The suspense hung in the air like a sharp knife, as the Geth realised they confronted not one, but three powers at once, each individually more powerful than the Council as a whole. If they were organic, they would do the organic action of swalloing their saliva in tremendous fear, shaking nervously as well.

But they were the ones who initiated First Contact with them, and they would see it through.

"Move us through the relay," Legion ordered, to which the crew members complied, albeit uneasy.

The Geth ship was flung foward from the mass relay in a blue spectrum of light, as the dark energy reduced the ship's mass until it was faster than the speed of light. Everything outside the ship became a blur, as its speed became too fast for the naked eye to follow.

Anxiously the Geth waited, waited for the imminent moment that they would meet the three superpowers through the ships that waited for them on the other side.

Legion himself was filled with both dread and trepidation, the tension beginning to intensify as the ship began exiting FTL travel.

Once they exited through, they were about to try and put up a valiant fight at the sight of the ships arming their weapons, but a last minute message popped up on a nearby holoscreen, displaying a message.

"Forgive us for the recent debacle. If you wish to talk, it will be aboard the Lone Survivor. A maximum of three guards is allowed."

It was almost ironic to the point of simply laughing madly. One time the unknowns were brutal fighters and masters of war against the despicable Batarian slavers, next they suddenly become friendly and apologize for nearly killing someone by accident.

It was a plethora of sheer pressure when faced with a larger superpower who could destroy you at its leisure, and even more so when it has much more advanced technology non-dependent on ruins of any deceased civilisation.

At least the way for negotiations has been cleared.

Now the Geth had to do the one thing they were least experienced in.

Politics.

IIOII

65:85 Eternal

Survivors of the Quarian Migrant Fleet manage to gain asylum within Thedosian space, numbering at only about three million and a half. They make a rather flimsy First Contact with the Thedosians at first, then the Azerothian Coaliton and Korprulu Alliance.

The Survivors are initially ticked off at the prospect of being surrounded by AI and Rachni, but Thedosians strictly enforce a society of coexistense, putting off any complaints the Quarians had about their new neighbours.

Quarian children are astounded by the feats of magic performed by Thedosian magi, but when a Quarian child tries to use his biotics in an environment heavily concentrated with magic, only a split-second usage of a shield prevents the boy from meeting certain death.

A mandatory order to remove all Eezo nodules in Quarian children is passed, making their parents unsure if magic is really more powerful than biotics.

Biotics apparently gain their potential when suffering prenatal exposure to Eezo deposits, but since the incident, Quarians are encouraged to spend more time near Amado-rich environments to bring out magic potential. By using an Amado-based cure to strengthen the Quarians' atrophied immune systems, many are already beginning to develop magic potential.

As many begin to miss their homeworld of Rannoch, a stealth ship carrying a full platoon of magi travels to the Tikkun System and use a portal spell to transport it back to their space.

The Quarians are unsure why the planet was abandoned; when asked, they said that a race of AI called the Geth used to take residence. The fact they suddenly disappeared is disconcerting at best, and patrols are advised to avoid shooting at them if possible if ever found.

Not long after, an Ethereal scout group enters Thedosian space and begins to attack the planet of Rannoch, frightening the Quarian survivors.

Fortunately, the Ethereal fleet numbering a dozen encounter a much larger fleet of eighty-four, quickly turning the skirmish into a one-sided battle, with the odds in the allies' favour.

To the Quarians' shock and surprise, before an Ethereal ship could release a nuclear bomb on the planet, a Thedosian AI travels onboard the surviving ship and detonates the bomb before it could launch, sacrificing himself to ensure the deed was done.

Never before did they have an AI sacrifice itself for their sake, so although they still remained rather uneasy towards AI, the Quarians at least do not bear outright hatred towards them now.

As a safety measure, a Thedosian AI is dispatched on the _Lone Survivor_ to deactivate the relay and jam it to prevent any signals from reactivating it.

65:86 Eternal

Using technology adapted from the aspects of all three superpowers' technology, along with those of the independent factions, the Quarians begin to build themselves back up on Rannoch, with the first Quarian ship entering service.

It was over five kilometres long, though it paled in comparison to the size of the _Eternal Guardian_ serving as the Thedosian Flagship.

Although Quarians have begun filling the ranks of the Thedosian military, they are a very small minority at best, due to the huge population decline they suffered.

Their expertise in engineering and hacking begin to receive notice from the other superpowers, so Quarian soldiers are offered a chance to enroll in engineering classes alongside other technicians in an effort to bring out their full potential.

A covert stealth ship travels to the planet of Tuchanka to initiate First Contact with a species called the Krogan, whom they found out about from the Rachni.

Many Krogan are unsure if being allies with the Allied Truimverate, relating to the Thedosian Empire, Azerothian Coalition and Korprulu Alliance and the independent factions was any better than with another galactic power called the Citadel Council, and as a result refuse the offer at first.

One Krogan clan however sees the alliance as an opportunity. The leader of Clan Urdnot by the name of Wrex agrees to the offer, and under his command, Krogan forces unite the other warring clans and secure the entire DMZ.

A large bomb is discovered in the middle of a ruined city square, which is disarmed and quickly disposed of by a few Specialist operatives.

Once Tuchanka is completely secure, magi teleport the planet back to allied space, and the Krogan who are amazed by their lifeless planet suddenly beginning to regain its greenery, simply decide to acknowledge the sovereignty of the other powers.

Xenobiologists and technicians manage to develop a partial cure for the Genophage, allowing all Krogan births to have 100% survival rate, but at the same time population growth is carefully reduced to the point that it is stable enough for the galaxy to handle.

Once the last Eezo deposits are removed and destroyed in Tuchanka, Krogan then undergo the mandatory Eezo removal in various hospitals and begin to assimilate themselves into a new society, with many applying for military classes and reconstruction efforts beginning in earnest.

Elven liquors and Dwarven beer become especially popular among Krogan personnel off-duty; some love the taste of Draconian liquor, but few ever dare to get drunk on it, as there were reports of Krogan doing absolutely embarassing things in public whilst being blissfully drunk.

65:87 Eternal

Thanks to advanced technology, Tuchanka's infrastructure is completely rebuilt and the thresher maw population roams freely outside city boundaries thanks to measures implemented to ensure they did not go on a rampage.

The first few Krogan ships enter service, mainly serving as the defense fleet of Tuchanka in the case of an enemy invasion.

Quarian and Krogan scientists are given free reign to experiment with Extrasolarium, opening a new range of new breakthroughs in technology and creation of their own branches of Exso tech.

As much space on both Rannoch and Tuchanka still remains unoccupied, the leaders of the respective native races give permission for immigrants to inhabit the planet until their population became more stable.

Reports of an unknown alien species trying to reactivate Relay 214 come in, alerting the _Lone Survivor's_ crew.

The High Emperor who happened to be commandeering the ship, orders an SOS to be sent to the Foward Unto Dawn and Hyperion who are not far off.

The new alien species are identified as Batarians and the ones attacking them happen to be a slaver gang.

Disgusted, the allied ships mercilessly take out the fleet, leaving only a few survivors from one ship to be captured and sent to interrogation.

Soon afterward, First Contact is made with the Geth.


	6. An unstoppable drive

**A/N: I've noticed that my other fanfic, A Lone Samurai's journey is not getting as many views as it should have, so I will be rewriting all of the chapters soon enough, but it won't be so soon, though.**

 **Note: I've edited some parts of this chapter to make them seem more sensible to you guys.**

 **WindBear47:** Right now.

 **Sceonn:** Really? Thanks for the review!

 **Chapter five: Unstoppable drive**

Four people sat on their chairs in large, spacious building, their positions elevated to a height making them look like a trio of elder gods talking to inferior subjects who took their orders.

It was where they conducted their every meeting and carried out their direct discussions with other improtant members of states of every race, clients or members.

Normally, whenever they talked about matters of importance, it would be involving reports on Batarian slavers or mercenaries pillaging planets and taking prisoners in the Terminus systems, or perhaps something new occuring in the galaxy, be it a new technological discovery from reverse-engineering Prothean tech or changes in state of governments.

Right now however, neither were the subject of discussion in the large building they knew as the Presidium.

Now, they were convening to figure out the three mysteries that not even STG operatives were able to solve.

One, the sudden and complete disappearance of the Quarians, Krogan and Geth from the entire galaxy, though a few thousand Geth still remained beyond the Perseus Veil.

Two, the planets of Tuchanka and Rannoch vanishing from their star systems.

Three, the continued disappearance of various mercenaries and Batarian slavers never returning from the recently activated Relay 214.

If it were biotics, it would at least explain some unknown factors, but the erratic energy readings that their sensors picked up, the feats performed that defied even the most advanced laws of physics and which would require biotics surpassing that of matriachs?

This resulted in investigations going back to square one.

"Anderson," A feminine, accented voice asked, "Just what in the name of the Goddess have we stumbled upon?"

A human male, now christened Anderson, responded, "If I really had an answer, I would give you one. The fact that both Cerberus and the Systems Alliance do not know means we are also in the same predictament as the rest of you."

"I thought Cerberus has the most advanced tech humanity had to offer to date," A bird-like, baritone voice muttered, "And even they are unsure how two _whole planets_ just suddenly vanished. Poof, like they never existed."

"Salarian operatives dispatched beyond Relay 214 have also not returned despite having the best stealth systems employed in their ships," A fast paced, slightly high-pitched voice countered.

All four sighed as they lay back in their chairs, the four most powerful figureheads in the entire galaxy not having an answer to a mystery for the first time since its existence.

They were the Citadel Council, and they were responsible for making decisions that affected the galaxy as a whole. In truth, there were eight races in total that composed the entire galactic community as a whole, not including the keepers who always maintained the Citadel daily.

Most were client races, having to submit to the authority of the Councilors who had candidates from the Asari, a mono-gendered, all-female species, the Turians who filled the peacekeeping role, the Salarians who served as the intelligence arm of the Council, and of course, the humans, who admittedly only managed to gain a Council seat two years ago.

The Quarians and Krogan used to be client races as well, but the former's creation of the Geth and latter's war tendencies led to both losing their embassies and being the subject of discrimination everywhere they went.

Of course, the galaxy's hatred of AI actually originated from a Prothean beacon on Thessia, which told the Asari that the Protheans did not trust AI at all. The fear was only further cemented with the random Geth attacks that occured in both Council and Human space.

To many of the races, the Asari were seen as the wisest, most skilled diplomats capable of maintaining peace in the galaxy.

In truth? They were not what the galaxy thought them to be. They simply wished for new races to join the Council so that they could get their dirty hands on their advanced tech and assimilate it into their society so that they could remain the dominant power, and whenever a Batarian slaver gang or group of mercenaries pillaged a colony, they and the Turians and Salarians used those incidents as an excuse to increase military spending.

But now, the status quo they were so used to maintaining was starting to crumble before their very eyes, as slaver attacks became less and less frequent throughout the galaxy, and mercenary attacks dwindling in number.

Tevos, the Asari Councilor wanted to prevent the status quo from crumbling itself, but it was happening too fast to be stopped. Her head crests were beginning to show her distress, the mass of short tentacles slowly moving to accomodate her mental state.

All Asari were near identical in physical build, the only differences being skin tone, face paintings and perhaps facial features.

Sparatus, the Turian Councilor, was actually content with less attacks happening in Turian space since the Hierarchy's forces had, time and again, failed to catch these slaver gangs. His species were avian in nature; though they had lost the ability to fly, they still had metallic plates underneath their skin to help reduce damage sustained from Eezo bullets. Some were identified by skin colour, others by face tatoos.

Valern, the Salarian Councilor, was more interested in solving the mysteries of the century, furiously typing commands onto his orange-glowing omni-tool. A bipedal race, their heads bore what passed off as horns and large eyes which always closed upwards, and differences, like the Asari and Turians, were mostly identified by skin colour.

"We should dispatch a patrol fleet beyond the relay, see what we're dealing with," suggested Sparatus, much to the dismay of Councilor Anderson.

"And let the Collectors rampage throughout Alliance space, killing and taking hundreds of thousands of human colonists?" Anderson said angrily.

"I'd say the threat beyond the relay is much more of a concern than these 'Collectors' you've been talking about," Sparatus waved off his human counterpart's anger.

"We still can't dismiss the possibility of the Collectors becoming a potential threat to the Council races at large, Sparatus, so stow it," Valern sternly shot down the Turian's suggestion, almost causing Sparatus to lose his temper.

"Perhaps we could make First Contact with the new race beyond the relay, gain their technological secrets and their friendship, if there are any," Tevos suggested, elicting looks of caution and concern, though not for her.

It wasn't the first time the Asari Councilor suggested making a peaceful first contact with a new species whenever one was encountered, so the other Councilors would have written it off as one of Tevos' tendencies, but in the case of Relay 214, the potential outcome was far too unpredictable, even for Valern's and Anderson's liking.

"Tevos, I know what you wish to do, but don't you think you are becoming a little too ambitious in this case?" Anderson cautioned, "I mean, whatever or whoever's beyond the relay would not take kindly to foreign visitors, since quite a few Batarian slaver gangs have simply vanished beyond the relay."

"He is right Tevos, as a former STG operative, I cannot overlook the dangers of such a venture," Valern agreed with Anderson.

Tevos and Sparatus were about to retort, but seeing the futility of doing so, simply held their tongues and sat back down in their seats, moving the discussion back to square one.

The debate was progressing nowhere at this rate, with the ceaseless bickering doing little to aid the decision-making process. Anderson sighed and sipped his coffee, in a poor attempt to calm his nerves and supplement his tired mind with energy.

The prolonged silence did nothing to alieviate the heavy tension in the air, until finally, a red-faced Councilor Sparatus stormed out of the Presidium, leaving his counterparts staring at him until his person vanished behind a sliding set of metallic doors.

This did not bode well; in the past, the Turian Hierarchy had always leaped at a chance for glory and securing a new client race, causing much resentment between them and the new race, though the Volus were an exception since they willingly became one for military protection.

Many humans still hated the Turians for what they did during the First Contact War, occupying Shanxi and driving out the garrison by force.

Only whatever God existed knew what Sparatus was planning.

And it did not bode well for any of them.

IIOII

It was a few days after Sparatus had simply walked out of the Presidium on his fellow colleagues. He could not stand the thought of these new alien races becoming a threat to much to handle, even with the combined might of all the Council races, client ones included; the way all the slaver and mercenary ganga disappeared beyond Relay 214 only strengthened that superstition.

He was a member of the Blackwatch, elite Turian operatives tasked with maintaining the preparedness of the Turian military against potential enemies within or outside of the known galaxy.

The sheer notion of simply trying to make peace with these potential 'allies' like Tevos sickened him to the core, just like the time when she and the Asari Republic interfered with what would be a glorious conquest of a new race for the Turian Hierarchy.

No, no one would interfere this time; not the Asari, not the Salarians, not even the humans and the extremist group who called itself Cerberus. No one would stop this conquest, no one.

No one would stop the Turians from diffusing a potential threat to the entire galaxy at large.

Sparatus would have been chided by his Councilor counterparts for simply abandoning his position as a councilor to simply lead the Turian invasion force. If he really wanted, he could have had another Turian commander to lead the fleet for him whilst he continued to work with his colleagues. But his Turian pride and the previous humiliation he suffered when the Asari vetoed his suggestion for conquering the Systems Alliance, won over any rational reasoning and sense of logic within his mind.

It was inappropriate behaviour unbeffiting of a Turian Councilor, but he simplt felt like it anyway.

With little persuasion employed on Sparatus' part, he managed to convince Primach Fedorian to deploy three fleets worth of ships, the entire invasion force consisting of five dreadnoughts, four carriers, sixty-four cruisers and over two-and-a-half hundred frigattes, all in pristine condition and weapons primed to the maximum settings.

From the Council's perspective, such a fleet was massive and albeit overkill for something so mundane; the Asari could simply make peace talks with them, and gain a new species as allies and numerous technological advances which would greatly benefit the Council as a whole.

Perhaps only the Asari would benefit though, as they were notoriously reputed for stealing any technology just to stay ahead of everyone else in the tech race between the Council species.

On board the _Palaven's Glory_ , Sparatus was no longer wearing his customary Councilor uniform, a light blue coloured skinsuit made to fit Turian physiology. Now, he was wearing his outdated Blackwatch uniform, his black armor hugging his form perfectly.

He stood in reverence of the large fleet which had gathered under Fedorian's command, ordered to respond to every order Sparatus issued.

The mass relay hung in orbit over no particular planet, the gyroscopic rings spinning around a large core of dark energy ready to propel any approaching ship at relativistic speeds across the vast expanse of space.

"Commander Sparatus," A Turian ensign said, "All ships are ready and awaiting your command."

A sly smile crept onto the Blackwatch operative's face as he heard the report.

"All ships are to engage FTL drives and move through Relay 214," Sparatus ordered in a stern, slightly satisfied voice, "Today, we will find the cause of the disappearances beyond the relay and quell any threats found there."

He began to rally his troops in an inspiring speech befitting of a Turian commander.

"If there really is a new race beyond the relay, we will crush their resistanse, make them a client race of the Hierarchy! We have always been the bulwark of the Hierarchy ever since the day it was founded! We will not back down, we will not surrender, and we will triumph as victors of the conflict!"

Sparatus did not know how much he raised his voice until he finished his speech, crossing his arms behind his back as he allowed the gravity of his words to sink into all Turian soldiers listening to the fleet-wide broadcast.

One cheer became three, than three became many.

Throughout the fleet, thousands of cheers erupted as Turians shouted and raised their arms, inspired by their commander, their moods quickly filling with enthusiasm as they quickly manned their battle stations and armed themselves for the conflict to come.

One by one, as Turian ships were flung across space by the mass-reducing force of the dark energy core of the mass relay, bright blue tendrils extending and touching every ship for brief seconds, Sparatus stayed where he was when he broadcasted his speech, overseeing the ensigns' routine of monitoring the various situations through their holo screens.

Now, the time for simple gossip and chatter was over.

It was time to wage war.

No one would stop it.

IIOII

An Orcish ensign simply sat down on his chair, enjoying his break time by playing a new round of Dragonstone with his fellow colleague, the various cards scattered on the playboard before them.

Dragonstone was, admittedly, a card game only created about twenty years ago by a select group of Thedosian developers, before the Quarians, Geth, and Krogan had met the Thedosian Empire and their allies by extension.

But it was fun to play, and within two months of its creation, many began clamouring for a copy of their own Dragonstone set alongside other popular card games such as Hearthstone and Diamondback, some even managing to get their hands on limited edition copies.

Heck, even the High Emperor himself liked to play Dragonstone as one of his pastimes whenever he was off work.

Other ensigns and soldiers were busy either eating their meals, taking quick naps when their superiors were not looking, or simply refreshing themselves with quick remedies of coffee or tea and biscuits.

The Orc smiled, looking at his deck that seemed favourable to him, only making his Quinari friend scowl more as he looked as his deck, a sign that he was going to lose the game if things do not turn any better for him.

"Hope you're ready," The Orc taunted.

"What?" The Quinari asked.

Without further speaking, he took a card from his hand and placed it on the board, making him smile in triumph as his Quinari counterpart simply sighed and acknowledged defeat.

The Orc did not have long to celebrate his victory though, as alarms blared throughout the ship once more, serving to simply annoy the Orc as he rushed to his station, furiously typing in irritation as he demanded to find out who was attacking them now.

Perhaps it could be yet another Batarian slaver gang, looking to plunder a colony for its riches and to haul off slaves to sell, or a mercenary gang, looking to steal more of their technology and make a big buck selling it to the highest bidder.

As the results came up on screen, the Orc was genuinely taken aback at the sheer number of ships that came through Relay 214.

Over three hundred ships had arrived, far too big for a simply mercenary or slaver attack.

This was an invasion force, no doubt looking to get rid of the causes of the disappearances of the scum of the galaxy, which had been no other than the quick-response fleet assigned to guarding the relay and making sure none made it to the colony of Lakash to use its defenses against them.

Numbering at over a thousand ships, none exceeding the length of 1,700 kilometres but outfitted with standard-issued plasma and energy weaponry, they would be more than enough to trump the invasion force, so none of it was supposed to be the ensign's concern.

But the fact that more ships had passed through the relay meant that someone beyond it had found out that the mercenaries disappearing was simply too convenient, the fashion on how they were dispatched too fishy to wave off as unimportant.

This could only mean one thing.

The High Emperor would have to deal with a potential political shitstorm soon enough.

IIOII

Sparatus nearly dropped his rifle in hand and almost stumbled to the cold, metallic floor when he saw the _massive fleet_ gathered before him.

On the other side of the would-be battlefield, where the enemy forces were gathered, were over a thousand ships, nearly two kilometres in length.

Sparatus was expecting a meagre flotila of ships, inferior in technology and severely outnumbered and outgunned to take on the Turian fleet, not a mammoth of a war machine equipped to take on the entire Council's military. Spitits, even the entire Turian fleet could not match these new aliens in sheer numbers.

Some of the ensigns were even beginning to reconsider attacking the alien ships, and most opted for simply fleeing the battle and never wanting to antagonise the aliens again, although most of these waited for Sparatus' orders.

But they were soldiers of the Turian Hierarchy. They would not surrender. They would never surrender even against bitter odds.

And so Sparatus resolved to fight the aliens once he had collected his bearings, and moved to bark orders across fleet channels, quickly reorganising the previously stunned personnel aboard.

"Ensign!" He called out, "Have all frigates and destroyers focus fire on the larger ships! Keep them distracted while the dreadnoughts have time to wear down their defenses!"

"Yes sir!" The ensign replied without hesitation, then relayed the commander's message to the specified ships through a comms channel.

Soon the emptiness of space was filled with multiple Eezo slugs flying at hyperspeeds towards the seemingly inactive alien ships, too fast for them to dodge, too fast to counter with tracer rounds.

Neither actions were necessary; as soon as the slugs had been fired, they did not impact on the ships' hull as hoped, rather, they hit an iridiscent barrier that reflected off the slugs on its rippling surface.

Salvo after salvo of slugs kept impacting on the barriers to little effect, the surprisingly robust shielding reflecting off every projectile aimed at the enemy ships. Yet, despite all of that, the alien ships still did not return fire in retaliation at all.

Sparatus was not liking any of it at all. First the Thanix cannons did not damage the ships at all, next the fighter craft that were nearing the ships suddenly lost control and either crashed into each other or managed to miraculously escape certain destruction, and now nuclear warheads weren't even working.

Yet, the alien ships did not fire, as if waiting for something else to happen.

Sparatus growled; he was starting to lose his patience. This conflict had gone on for far too long, longer than he liked.

He had to end this soon, or the dammed Councilors would catch wind of this engagement and try to diffuse it.

He would not see it pass though, as he saw the alien ships finally charge their spinal cannons and fire, destroying all dreadnoughts completely, to his shock and horror.

These dammed aliens had energy weaponry at their disposal, capable of completely bypassing their kinetic barriers and utterly reducing any of their ships to slag.

But it did not stop there. Several alien ships suddenly disappeared through large bright motes of light, out of their sight and completely missing from their radar. In a state of shock, ensigns and technicians frantically scanned to find where the ships had gone.

Their answer came when said ships had reappeared.

Within the Turian ranks.

And all of them rammed into their flanks in a seemingly suicidal fit of agression.

More ships had been lost by the ramming, and after several broadsides had been fired from alien ships' arnaments.

What was most shocking to Sparatus' eyes, however, was that the aliens ships were not damaged in the slightest even after such a dangerous act, meaning these ships were constructed out of an alloy far stronger than anything they encountered before.

It wasn't long before the Blackwatch operative began to see the folly of his actions, as Turian ships were being destroyed left and right either from more broadsides being fired from the alien ships, or enemy fighter craft scattering to massacre their destroyers, the dark, empty void of space illuminated by lances of energy and brightly coloured explosions with more shipwrecks dotting the landscape.

But in the void of space, with no air, nothing could be heard. Not the explosions that would usually ring in people's ears, not the dozens of ship arnaments unleashing payloads of destruction, and certainly not the screams of people dying.

And Sparatus could only watch all of it through his own Turian eyes, unable to help any of his subordinates for fear of being killed.

Suddenly, a great impact could be felt as the ship rocked and tilted at a dangerous angle, causing Sparatus to stumble and hit his head on the floor.

His vision began to fill with white light, his head still throbbing with pain as he tried his utmost to stand up. His hearing was barely working at first, then the all-to-recognisable sounds of gunfire rang throughout the corridors, forcing Sparatus to tough out the pain and arm his rifle.

The set of doors leading into the command deck soon sprang open, soldiers dressed in unfamiliar garb storming into the room and cornering the Turians into a tight corner as the few remaining crew members prepared for their last stand.

Sparatus was nervously aiming his rifle at the aliens that stood across the deck, armed with weapons that should have been mere antiques and all manner of firearms that were strangely designed but no less deadly.

One, most likely the leader, stepped forward and raised a hand at the Turians to dissuade them from attempting a foolish attack. Wearing a flamboyant cape unbeffiting of his status, he placed his oversized battleaxe on the floor headfirst, then proceeded to unfasten his helmet, a loud hissing accompanying the action.

Once Sparatus managed to get a full view of the leader's face, he was absolutely stunned to find that he looked so similar to a human; the reason why he did not simply consider him a human was the pointy ears that extended out of his albino hair, and the eyes that made him shift uncomfortably, even with his iron discipline.

Black eyes with amber pupils that bore down heavily on his soul, strange yet ancient markings covering one half of his face, and an intimidatin, almost overbearing aura of authority and fearlessness.

"I am High Emperor Amarthathor, of the Thedosian Empire," He heard the leader introduce himself, "You and your men stand accused of attacking the Empire and its allies. To what justification were you compelled to do such a thing?"

Sparatus could feel his world shattering to pieces as he digested the Emperor's words. He was speaking English, perfectly accented English that he spent his time learning despite his inherent dislike for Humans.

They had attacked more than one galactic nation, nations who were technologically and numerically superior than the whole Council combined. Spirits, even though the Batarians had broken away from the Council and went to increase its military might, they still did not come close to obtaining strength equivalent to that of the Hierarchy.

He could see why Tevos and his other colleagues were apprehensive about attacking this new species; the Hierarchy had only succeeded at conquering Shanxi because the Systems Alliance employed the same technology as they did and were heavily outnumbered.

He saw the leader reach into his helmet and pull out a sort of data chip, then pixels of bright light began to materialise into something.

It revealed a holographic figure that looked similar to the Emperor, save his dark skin tone and absense of strange markings on his face. He seemed to be sipping a holographic cup of tea whilst lazily sitting on a couch, waiting for something new to do.

But he recognised it, it was an AI, an artificial construct banned throughout the Galaxy by Citadel law ever since the Quarians created the Geth.

He needed to dismantle it. It was too dangerous to be let loose, even if these... Thedosians used them without any issue.

"Before you get me started, Sparatus," Amarthathor said, as if he read the Turian's thoughts, "Let me tell you that you are just fearing AI because someone else told you to do so."

"But, but they are dangerous!" Sparatus screamed his head off, "They must be-"

He did not get to finish his sentence when a cybernetic fist impacted on his face, then he felt himself being handled roughly as he came face to face with-

A Geth. It was a _real Geth_ , standing in front of him.

But the way the Geth handled him was rather strange; usually, the geth would settle for injecting some sort of tranquiliser into the victim's neck, rendering him unable to fight, or shooting on sight.

But he was holding him like an organic would in anger. Why was the Geth angry? Did he do something to offend it?

"Do not speak to Amarthathor like that, Turian," The Geth did the organic equivalent of spitting on him, "Because of your irrational fear of AI, because you _abandoned_ our Creators when they needed you most, they nearly died out completely! Extinct, just for your convenience!"

Sparatus and the other Turians were taken aback by the Geth's display of anger, as it clenched its fists harder, gripping tightly on the Turian Councilor's armor as he wound up a fist, ready to punch him once more.

Another armored fist latched onto the Geth's arm just before he could deliver the blow, recognising it to be the Emperor's.

"Emperor..." The Geth muttered in confusion.

"That is enough, Legion," The Emperor addressed the Geth by its name, "Your anger is justified, but simply beating him will take us nowhere."

"But..." Legion tried to argue but was silenced by a stern glare.

"If you truly wish to avenge the deaths of your Creators, aid us in finding the Ethereals and put an end to their reign."

The Geth – no, Legion – hesitated for a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity for AI, then reluctantly let go of Sparatus, allowing him to drop onto the cold, metallic floor.

Legion proceeded to walk away from the other Turians until he was behind the Emperor, conceding to his judgement.

"Take them away," Amarthathor ordered, "I will question their leader later when I feel like it."

Sparatus made no effort to resist the soldiers restraining him as they dragged him away to spirits knew where.

The other Turians were unwilling to peacefully surrender to their enemies, so many struggled, even going so far as to try to steal their weapons, but none ever managed to escape their restraints, as they all suddenly fell asleep due to a strange energy radiating from many of their hands.

Since he was the only one who did not resist, he was not subject to the same merciful fate as the others were.

Sparatus' thoughts were a raging malestorm inside his mind, unrelenting, agressively arguing and never agreeing on one thing at a time. They only served to aggravate the Turian Councilor's anxiety even further, threatening to snap the last strands of sanity still remaining in his mind.

No matter how much he tried to rationalise the thoughts in his mind, they always focused on one statement that repeatedly refused to be forgotten.

 _We attacked a sleeping titan._

These words kept repeating themselves like a religious sutra being chanted again and again, blocking out any other throughts and exterior stimuli from being registered by his fragile state of mind.

 _We attacked a sleeping titan._

He could not stop the recitation of the mantra in his mind, nor did he bother wanting to.

 _We attacked a sleeping titan._

It was all he ever thought of for the next few hours.

IIOII

"Hey, you hear, Wrex?" An Orc was busy gossiping about the latest events to his Krogan friend beside him.

"About what?" The Krogan said uncaringly, slamming down his glass on the counter after drinking down its contents.

"I hear that an entire Turian fleet had the balls to attempt a full-scale invasion of the Empire via Relay 214," The Orc scoffed at the sheer audacity of the invaders, "Only their leader and a few dozen managed to survive the skirmish, I hear."

"Ah, who gives a damn about these arrogant birds Arkail," The Krogan shared the same sentiment as his drinking buddy, "Glad somebody finally handed their asses to them."

Both laughed heartily, content with drinking all of their troubles away with cold glasses of beer to their heart's content.

"I see that you two are having fun."

They turned their heads to recognise the owner of the accented voice speaking English.

"Ah, Tali!" Arkail was all too happy to see the Quarian again, "Come, have a drink!"

Tali seemed to nervously try to inch away from the bar counter, not wanting to offend her friends, but at their insistense, she sat down on an empty stool and ordered a glass of beer, the frothy, golden liquid tempting her taste buds as it filled the beer glass.

After gulping down her beer, she suddenly found herself ordering more refills, quickly gulping down every glass with gusto as she found herself addicted to the taste of the delicious beer.

The cold liquid touching her lips and quenching her parched throat was refreshing, but she began to take her drinking spree to a new level.

After downing more than a dozen glasses of the frothy beverage, she began swaying dangerously, almost falling off her seat more than once whilst her friends simply laughed at the sight before them.

Thankfully it was already nighttime when she began her alcoholic craze, so at least she could sleep off the beer.

Arkail simply shook his head at the comical sight of Tali'Zorah mumbling incoherent words in her drunken state, moving to take his landlady back to their houses when the nearby television shifted its channel to a news broadcast.

"Attention everyone, we interrupt this channel to bring you urgent news," An elven reporter said with a tone of urgency, bringing their attention to the broadcast, Tali still mumbling incoherent language, "Two minutes ago, allied forces have intercepted yet another ship that just passed through Relay 214. It identifies itself as the _Normandy_ , and the crew that has been detained for questioning is made up of Humans, with reports suggesting that the leader is one who goes by the name of Commander Shepard."

"More information will be revealed once investigations have made progress. Reporting for Thedosian News Network, I'm Danath Lavellan."

As the news channel cut its connection, Wrex was staring at the screen in disbelief, recognising the name of the ship and the leader that were mentioned just now.

Shepard. It had been over two years since he last heard from her, after her supposed death and the loss of the _Normandy_.

It was hard to believe the cold, disheartening fact that one of his few friends, his true friend, had died so suddenly.

He sometimes hated to admit it, but he missed Shepard and her cheerful, albeit naive attitude.

To hear that she was still alive, he needed to find out if it was truly her, if it was truly the Commander Shepard he had grown to respect and regard as a true friend.

"I'm sorry, I need to go," Was all Wrex said before rushing off in the night, leaving Arkail holding the unconscious, drunken form of tali'Zorah.

"No point leaving you like this, Tali," Arkail said to no one in particular, "Let's get you home."

IIOII

She was hating it. She was hating every moment of it.

It was supposed to be a simple scouting mission; head through the relay, briefly scout the other side, and then head back through the relay with their findings. It was supposed to be simple, given that the _Normandy_ had the latest stealth drive improved by Cerberus engineers.

She did not excpect a humongous fleet waiting for her, and one which managed to detect the ship despite the stealth drive engaged.

And now she was waiting for their supreme leader to be interrogating her, no doubt asking about her motives, her wants, needs, etc, all the while leaving her concerned about how her crewmates were being treated whilst serving their time as captives of this 'Thedosian Empire'; she may not like Cerberus, but that did not mean she did not see the good side of its operatives, especially the new recruits.

But the room she was in, it felt... nice, very nice, almost to the point of being hospitable rather than giving an aura of oppression through dimly illuminated surroundings and dark coloured, heavy walls. A crystal clear lamp illuminated the whole room enough to allow Shepard to take in her surroundings.

The room she was in could not even come close to an interrogation room, come to think of it. A couple of potted plants guarded the only doorway inside, their flowers diffusing a sweet, alluring fragrance that the Spectre began to love. A glass window at one end of the room allowed anyone inside to have a good overview of the city below, the sounds of bustling activity obstructed by the airtight glass panel.

As Shepard was mesmerised by her surroundings, she heard the doors part to reveal...

She was unsure what to make of the man who entered the room.

He was admittedly tall and masculine, though not as much as an average human male, but what would make him stand out like a sore thumb in her society were his pointy ears, the unnatural white of his long hair, the strange markings that seemed to cover the entire right half of his face, and perhaps the most frightening of all... was his eyes.

They were the most unnatural, the most... alien of his features. Black sclera protecting golden amber irises housing slits of pupils which should have belonged to an animal. Whenever Shepard stared into those eyes, she could not help but feel that she was staring into the eyes of an otherworldly being, hopelessly beyond her comprehension, and that of any intelligent scientist or biologist.

She could not suppress her nervous swalloing of saliva down her throat, her nerves becoming more and more jittery by the second as she observed the man sit down right before her.

His clothing was nothing regal or fanciful, just a black T-shirt emblazoned with the insignia of a roaring dragon, two wreaths of laurels criss-crossing each other below it, and a pair of what looked like cotton jeans covering the entire length of his legs, and...

Why was he not any footwear whatsoever? He seemed to be fine with walking barefoot, but what about the floor becoming unbearably hot in very sunny conditions? Wouldn't that result in horrible scalding of his feet? Yet he did it as if it was of no concern.

"I am Amarthathor, High Emperor of the Thedosian Empire," The elfin man introduced himself.

...Did she just hear that right? She was officially talking with the leader of the Empire, who was wearing nothing more than plain civilian clothes before her?

She was unsure whether it was how the Thedosians behaved or that God was simply playing an extremely ridiculous joke on her.

"I-I'm Commander Shepard, of the Systems Alliance," The human Spectre stuttered in her introduction, "Or at least... I used to be."

Amarthathor tilted his head at the last few words. "Used to be?"

"I-It's kinda complicated so... I might be... taking a while to explain this," Shepard said as she struggled to find the right words to speak.

What was she doing? She was an N7 Soldier, one of the best the Alliance had to offer since the creation of the initiative, and the first and only human Spectre to ever be appointed the honour by the Council itself, so why was her resolve faltering now, in front of this High Emperor?

Was it the strange, somewhat frightening aura he was emmiting? Was it the sheer authority he radiated despite his ordinary appearance? Was it his handsome features that somehow-

No, she had to get the last part out of her mind. No way she was going to fall for some sort of space elf during a mission of utmost importance assigned by the Illusive Man, untrustworthy as he was.

She braced herself, steeling her nerves with a newfound resolve she did not even know she had within herself, and said, "Me and my team were sent to investigate the the recent disappearance of a large fleet of over three hundred ships beyond the relay, the one that led to your Empire's space."

"Would it be the Turian fleet, by any chance?" Amarthathor asked, much to the surprise of the Spectre, "Led by a certain Councilor Sparatus?"

Shepard was taken aback by the new information. She had not been expecting the Emperor to know the name of the Councilor and ex-Blackwatch operative who led the large fleet beyond Relay 214.

"H-How did you know?" Shepard tried to comprehend the situation before her.

"I believe it would be better for the leader himself, to explain."

She was about to ask again about how Sparatus could talk with them when the doors opened yet again to reveal a very familiar face.

Councilor Sparatus.

But she could see that something was fundamentally different about the Turian before her. Before, he was about as stubborn and arrogant as his Asari counterpart, not believing a single word she said about a distant threat that could engulf the entire galaxy, with the Council unable to stop it.

However, right now Sparatus was just... silent. He did not say anything at all when entering the room, though he paused in his tracks when he lay eyes on the human Spectre before him, which meant that he was also not expecting to see Shepard herself.

He slowly took a seat next to Shepard, placing his hands on the table.

And taking a deep breath, he began to say his piece.

"I'll be blunt," Sparatus said, "I would not settle for leaving the mystery of disappearing ships beyond relay 214 any longer, so I took a large portion of the Hierarchy's fleet to deal with any potential threats beyond the relay."

At least Shepard could understand the actions Sparatus did, though it would be what any Turian commander would do, with their absolute paranoia about threats becoming too much for the Council to handle.

"But you were not expecting to lose badly, did you?" Amarthathor questioned the Turian prisoner of war before him.

The ex-Blackwatch agent simply shook his head, giving Shepard the answer she wanted.

"Shepard," He turned to address the human Spectre beside him, "The Empire has technology more advanced than the whole Council and Cerberus combined, and outnumber all of us over a thousand to one."

The Turian's features softened in grim sorrow as he continued, "If any Asari commandoes or mercenaries were to try to steal their technology, they would be awakening a sleeping titan."

She was desperately trying to wrap her head around all the new information she was receiving; exactly how did one galactic empire manage to produce so many ships over the years? Did it never engage in any galactic war throughout the entirety of its existense? Or perhaps it had another race handling its military might?

"Was it the Empire alone, or was it allied with other, more powerful races?" Shepard asked.

"Allow me to repeat my statement," Sparatus took a deep breath before continuing, "The Empire _alone_ has an armanda of ships outnumbering the whole Council over a thousand to one."

She was barely keeping herself from falling off her seat as she fumbled to process the numbers in her mind. She knew the Turian Hierarchy had the strongest and largest fleet in the whole galaxy, but even then they numbered about a thousand. If the Empire did outnumber the _whole_ Council's fleet in the numbers specified by Sparatus...

Then God help them all, especially Councilor Tevos, bigotted and arrogant woman as she was.

"Although I'll admit, the Empire has allies as well; although they do not possess as much military strength as we do, they still outnumber the Council's military as well." The High Emperor added, not helping Shepard's already confused state of mind.

"I think all of this might be too much to handle for Shepard, Emperor," Sparatus interjected, "Why don't we allow her a bit of rest for today?"

Standing up from his seat, Amarthathor concluded, "I believe that would be best. Thank you for your time, Sparatus."

The Turian nodded as he left the room, leaving Shepard alone with Amarthathor as he passed her a cup of tea.

Staring into the steaming hot liquid inside the porcelain cup, she then stared at Amarthathor, who simply stared at her back with his signature soul-piercing gaze, then wordlessly took the cup and sipped the tea, taking care not to scald her tongue.

The taste was... beyond describing it as exceptionally sweet and fragrant, yet her acute sense of taste could not detect any sugar inside the refreshing drink, making it all the more flavourful and naturally soothing.

She eagerly took her own sweet time to savour every last drop as she was mesmerised by the simplistic, yet addictive flavour of the tea she was sipping.

Eventually, the cup was empited of it's contents, and Shepard daintily set down the cup onto the table, her nerves having calmed considerably.

"Now that you've calmed down," Amarthathor said, "Let me get straight to the point."

A steel grey glow on his arm began to become more visible, and as Amarthathor began tying various buttons on the holographic arm-mounted computer, a projector which Shepard failed to notice was in the table began to show images materialising in swarms of bright pixels arranging themselves.

They revealed a ship in a specific design that the Spectre had come to hate and dread for causing the destruction of the original _Normandy_ and the death of its previous crew. The drill-shaped figurehead, the crude pieces of metal welded together to sustain its design...

It was a Collector ship, one of many that have been attacking isolated colonies throughout Alliance space.

But here was the million credit question: Exactly why was Amarthathor taking interest in the Collectors now? Was it because they had attacked one of the Empire's colonies, or perhaps one of its allies'?

"We know that you've been tracking these Collectors for quite some time now, so let me tell you the reason why I summoned you here. But first..."

Amarthathor proceeded to snatch the cup from the table and lift it up high, then quickly pushed himself away from the table using his own legs.

Shepard was about to question the feasibility of his actions when a loud, wheezing sound quickly intensified in volume, actually nearing her hearing range by doing so.

She only had a moment to blink before the loud wheezing of wind was accompanied by the shattering of glass, followed by a large, round sort of canister impacting on the table, causing it to break in half through the sheer overwhelming force which was more than what the table's material could handle.

She was lucky that the quasi-expensive table did not shatter into minature pieces and injure her, though she was left terribly on edge due to the suddenness of what just happened, her fingers gripping the edges of her chair tightly, small, barely visible traces of cold sweat trickling down the sides of her forehead.

Amarthathor, however, did not seem bothered by the dangerous, life-threatening situation that most recently occured, and simply activated a strangely familiar, yet differently designed, steel grey glowing device on his arm, typing a few commands to allow a Krogan face to materialise on the device's screen.

"I asked for a copy of the decree to be delivered as fast as possible, _not_ a bloody cannonball straight in my face!" He exasperated whilst ranting at the recipient of his sudden foul mood.

The Krogan, however, did not seem bothered by it in the slightest, and simply replied, "Well, I wasn't even at home yesterday, I was in Tuchanka."

"Well it's not my fault you're not listening," Amarthathor nonchantly replied, despite his earlier harsh tone.

"Yeah, talk to you later," Was all the Krogan muttered before cutting off the connection.

The Emperor simply reclined in his chair as he deactivated the wrist-mounted device, rubbing his forehead to clear the strands of stress-induced sweat from his skin.

When Amarthathor beckoned Shepard to follow him somewhere after recovering the canister from its recent impact zone, she could only gulp in nervousness as they navigated the corridors of the now-recognisable apartment they were in.

Soon enough, they entered another room, this one more recognisable as a living room, the decor of the room about the same as the one she was in, with the addition of a large screen television and a few plushy couches.

As he closed the door, the Emperor proceeded to place the canister on a nearby table, typing a few buttons on a holo console which caused it to pop open with a loud, prolonged hiss.

Inside it was a scroll of paper, which the Emperor took out handed to Shepard.

Unsure of what was inside the scroll, Shepard simply unrolled it to read the following its contents.

 _In response to the recent Turian attack and the unprovoked assaults on the colony of Lakash by several slaver gangs and mercenary squads, High Emperor Amarthathor has decreed, after much deliberation with the leaders of the Azerothian Coalition, Korprulu Alliance and the other independent factions, that we are going to war with the Turian Hierarchy and the other member races of a previously unknown galactic power known as the Citadel Council, and the rouge state of the Batarian Hegemony to make them answer for the recent slaver attacks.  
_

 _The first and third fleets are to launch an attack on Turian Space alongside Azerothian forces and a few Shado Pan agents assigned to help us by Lord Zheng Shao of the Pandaren Republic, whilst Korprulu forces launch an attack on Batarian space with Rachni and Arrakoa forces; if any Quarian, Geth or Krogan wish to aid in the war effort, Emperor Amarthathor has given permission to allow them to serve as fellow soldiers on the front line._

 _The Asari and Salarians, as the blue women and frog-like people identify themselves, are not considered our enemies, but should they dare cross us, Allied forces are more than welcome to end them where they stand._

 _Once the Hegemony is dismantled and the Hierarchy pacified, an Allied fleet comprising fifty ships from each galactic faction will make haste for the Citadel, where the leaders of the Council will be waiting. Once there, no one is to fire unless fired upon; we will move there to ensure they are no longer enemies, not incur more hatred towards us. Commander Shepard and the crew of the_ Normandy _will act as liason between the two sides when the diplomatic meeting takes place, but only when the two enemy powers are taken care of._

 _Once diplomacy matters are taken care of, we will concentrate on exterminating the Collectors from the rest of the galaxy, and send a Vanguard-class ship to aid Shepard in her efforts against the alien kidnappers, and three soldiers chosen by leaders from every faction to serve as her crewmates as well._

 _Be swift, and never fail in your duties._

 _Yggdrasil guide you._

She was unsure about the last few words at the end of the scroll. Was it a prayer of sorts, or simply someone wishing well-being? She was more inclined to lean towards the latter.

But the fact that the Empire had encountered the Collectors before, meant that she had to warn them about another threat looming in the horizon. A threat much, much larger than the Collectors themselves.

The Reapers.

She would never forget the attack that one of their kind, Sovereign, made on the Citadel. It took the entire Citadel Defense Fleet just to take him out, and had suffered casualties numbering thirty percent of their original strength.

Yet, despite all the damage Sovereign had caused, the Councilors, save Anderson, refused to believe her reports about the Reapers' existense, and simply wrote off her claims as pure fabricated nonsense.

Just as she thought this though, Amarthathor proceeded to move towards the exit when she prevented him from leaving, by blocking his passage with an extended arm.

"Wait, Amarthathor," Shepard pleaded.

He turned to acknowledge her.

"Yes?"

"There's something you need to know," Shepard said with an all-too serious expression, stopping Amarthathor in his tracks.

"About what?" The Emperor asked.

She took a deep breath, and said, "There is a much larger threat, one that will concern the Empire and all of its allies."

Amarthathor could hear the seriousness in her voice, and he knew it was a no-nonsense plea for action. He may not have been through an actual war yet, despite his milenium-long life, but that did not mean he could not write off the possibility of an all-out galactic war on their hands.

"Take a seat," The half-draconian Emperor said, which Shepard graciously did.

Once he sat down on one of the plushy couches, he fixed an equally serious stare at the Spectre, and said in a commanding voice, "I want you to describe in detail everything you know about this new threat, starting with its name, origins and intentions. Right now."

IIOII

It had been about three days ever since Shepard had shared everything she knew about the Reapers to the High Emperor. Three surprisingly fun-filled days spent exploring the unknown wonders of the Empire and the Coalition, and perhaps the Korprulu Alliance as well.

She was asked to wait for some time for the war with the Council and Batarian forces to be quickly dealt with, and for a few things to be given to her as an aid against the Collectors, so she spent her time exploring the unknown wonders of the Empire.

She saw that their divergence from the path of reverse-engineering Prothean technology had actually done them so much more good than thought possible; tall, ornate structures of pristine metallic alloys rose high in the sky, bearing many different types of decor that never did the architects any justice.

Large, crystaline pylons defied gravity as they hung over the tops of the skyscrapers with smaller crystals oscilating around the larger counterpart, asymmetrical aspects of the structures only serving to further enhance the beauty of the golden and silver spirals that outdid even Asari architecture.

The only things that ever distracted her attention on the urban landscape were large, reptillian creatures flying just barely past the temporary lodging she was staying in. Originally, she would have acted instinctively to try and kill them, but Amarthathor identified them as his kinsmen in their original forms.

She remembered how close she was to killing one when one of them landed on the rooftop.

Flying on a dragon high in the air was so totally different from doing so in the _Normandy_ ; at least there was an airtight environment to protect her from the strong wind blowing in her face.

But it actually allowed her to behold all the wonders of the colony all the same, just more realistically rather than within the confines of a spaceship.

The strong, cold winds harshly blowing in her face, her crimson hair flowing in the breeze, it was certainly an experience few would ever dare to forget.

She had spent a good portion of her time just exploring the different city districts to see what they had to offer, liquor, local cuisine, even the different clothing stores to examine all aspects of Thedosian fashion.

Encouraged by Amarthathor to buy at least some souveniers, she decided to try some simple clothing; no fanciful dresses or suits, just plain shirts and what passed off as jeans.

The material they were made of was rather comfortable, accentuating her figure yet allowing a little breathing space, sturdy yet soft, warm yet airy. Satisfied with the quality, she bought three full outfits of Thedosian clothing.

And to add to her happiness, she had found out that her Quarian friend and one-time teammate was actually alive and well, along with the survivors who only numbered over three million now.

It was slightly disheartening to find out that so many Quarians had died, but she was still relieved that her good friend was okay, although she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that both the Geth and another long-hated species were friends of the Empire.

Said species being the Rachni.

She often heard the Council talking about how close the Rachni were to completely eliminating the Council, forcing the Salarians to uplift the Krogan and manipulate them to fighting their war. When she first met them though, their behaviour was not murderous or violent as the Council described them. Rather, they simply possessed child-like curiosity and the tendency to always question how certain technology worked.

As for the Geth, she wondered exactly how did the Empire manage to get the Quarians and the Geth to make peace with each other, as she remembered many Quarians still being sore over the Mourning war; she did know the reason after a brief talk with the Emperor, but she was still brainstorming how the Empire managed to do it in such a bloodless way.

Then there were the Krogan. Having met many of them as bloodthirsty mercenaries with few of them being actual businessmen, she was once again stunned to find many happily associating with Thedosian citizens, though more than a few glass windows were broken in 'friendly' fights.

Upon seeing Urdnot Wrex, the Krogan immediately beckoned her to take a drink of beer, the frothy, cold, golden liquid quenching her thirst fairly effectively. Whilst reminiscising about the good, old days, Wrex was busy introducing Shepard to a new card game called Hearthstone.

It was rather fun playing the new game, though she was horribly losing to the battlemaster in every round.

When the third day came, Amarthathor explicitly told her that he planned to assign her a group of specialist soldiers to aid her in her mission.

The Empire and some of its allies would be assigning her the soldiers they choose, with the others exempted from the choosing process since they had insufficient population numbers, but that would be only after the Empire, along with its allies had made first contact with the Council.

And in preparation beforehand, she had to undergo gene therapy to remove her Eezo nodules and replace them with new biotic amps.

When asked why was it necessary, it was because the Eezo in her body would not react well with the magic they employed – seeing magic existing in real life nearly made her faint – and for that, they would be using Extrasolarium nodules to serve as her new biotic amps.

She was, yet again, stunned beyond words to find that the Empire had managed to create an artificial isotope of Eezo, dubbed Exso for short, using magic.

She was told that her new Exso amps would not interfere with her bodily functions when in contact with magical energies,especially with her new teammates' constant usage of magic within her ship, and that her biotics would actually be more powerful than when she last used them, though that would have to be seen later.

And as a sign of friendship, Amarthathor handed her a communication crystal for easy communication with whoever had one as well; he personally told her that the crystal was for explicit use by her, and her only. No one, absolutely no one else can have access to the crystal.

With that, all she could do is wait for this ridiculous war to be quickly resolved, so that she and her newfound friends could focus on the true threat.

The Collectors.

IIOII

The Hegemonic Defense Fleet had but a moment to react before the first few unknown ships appeared behind them; normally, the Defense Fleet was trained to hold off threats originating at the relay, not from without.

So when attempted moving into a defensive formation, the first few Batarian ships had easily fallen to emerald lances of plasma easily cutting through the palladium alloys like wet paper, whilst more unknowns entered the fray.

Within minutes, the entire Defense Fleet orbiting Khar'shan was obliterated, leaving no enemies to stand in the way of the invaders.

But it was not until exactly five minutes later, that the real assault began in earnest.

Lances of highly ionised gas and other types of projectiles began raining on the surface of the planet Khar'shan, streaks of fire beginning their relentless storm to weather down the planetside defenders garrisoned in the different installations scattered throughout the Batarian homeworld.

Taking care to avoid civilian centres and slave concentration camps, the orbital bombardment did not last longer than two minutes, and once it was over, several shuttles and drop pods descended planetside, ferrying thousands of troops and hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks to commence the ground assault.

Emperor Amarthathor decided to personally lead the forces, so a retinue of his elite guards and retainers, the former known as the Archknights were accompanying him in the assault.

On the third of Wintermarch, at three o'clock in the late afternoon, High Emperor Amarthathor embarks on his maiden battle.

The drop pods landed with a loud thundering sound as each of them created mini craters where they impacted due to the large amount of g-forces that acted on them whilst penetrating the atmosphere. Loud hisses and snaps followed, the pod doors opening to allow the invasion army to gather itself before one of the major cities of the Batarian homeworld.

From their perspective, there was an utter lack of walls to deter aggressors from attacking the city, making it extremely easy to overrun with their sheer numbers. With the recent orbital bombardment, it eliminated gunship and tank facilities, removing any armored support the Hegemony forces might have to delay their offensive.

And yet, despite all this, they could see hundreds of Batarian troops gathering to blockade the streets all across the city, indicating one thing.

They would not go down without a fight.

He was fine with this, and Amarthathor would not hesitate to write each and every one of their epitomes with their blood.

He raised his axe in the air whilst mounted on his trusty steed, and bellowed one simple order.

"ATTACK!"

At once, the thundering of hooves clattering and armored boots thumping on the ground reveberated throughout the air, followed by loud mini explosions of various tanks firing their payloads at the Batarian barricades, scattering many limbs and trails of blue blood wherever the rounds impacted.

Like a huge tsunami wave, a flood of soldiers wearing different types of armor clashed with the Batarian defenders, wiping out many who could not overcome their robust barriers and hardened armor with their pitiful Eezo weapons and intimidating those who witnessed their comrades' death. Volleys of laser beams and energy orbs completely bypassed their kinetic barriers and cut through their armor like soft leather, killing any who did not die in the recent barrage of tank rounds, and those unlucky enough to get caught between their dying comrades and the shining blade of an archaic weapon.

However, the Allied forces also suffered casualties, albeit minimal from the omni-blades that the Hegemony soldiers used on their enemies.

For some Batarians, the blood being spilt, the number of corpses scattered along the streets, turning them into mass graveyards, the sight was just far too much for them to bear.

But it would not end there.

For the war had begun.


	7. Uneasy Diplomacy

**A/N: Sorry that I took so long to update, I was busy tackling my exams for mid-terms, and had to spend quite a few weeks to prepare for the papers.**

 **I also believe it is time for this fanfic to get a new cover picture. If any of you are skilled artists on deviantart and are willing to take on my request, please PM me and I'll consider taking your offer. Thank you very much.**

 **Sceoon:** I will admit, I wasn't thinking straight when I wrote the last chapter. I edited some parts to make more sense, but I left the part about Sparatus unchanged because I wanted the Hierarchy to experience the UAP's power first hand. So I apologize if it did not feel like my writing.

 **WindBear47:** Sorry if you were disappointed on the lack of action during Shepard's and Wrex's reuniting.

 **BlueScreen26:** I'll think about it.

 **Grumpy(Guest):** Your opinion, your words.

 **Chapter six: Uneasy Diplomacy**

Tevos was summoning every bit of restraint she could to stop herself from grabbing her head crests in frustration, causing her Salarian and human counterparts to shift uncomfortably in their seats.

She was not having the best of days at all, not since the Batarians suddenly declared themselves an independent, rouge state and cutting themselves off from the Council years ago, when their protests about limiting human expansion into the Skylian Verge fell on deaf ears.

She was fine with their decision, so long as she had a reason to justify increased spenditure on the military; increasing the number of Asari Commandoes and ships to 'protect' the populace from external threats.

Now, however, she was receiving reports of attacks being made on the Hegemony throughout Batarian space, with some of them even occupied by foreign powers the Council did not know had actually existed outside of their space.

The Turian Hierarchy, she wasn't really surprised despite it being engaged in all-out war, given Sparatus' earlier actions that landed the Hierarchy in such a situation.

But as much as she hated the Hierarchy's arrogance and impulsiveness just for being the peacekeepers of the galaxy, she could not allow the Council to lose its military arm for its blunders, lest the other member races suffer for their lack of a security force.

Just when she thought her troubles could not get worse though, a news broadcast began to interrupt every channel on the Television network, bring her eyes and the other Councilors' to the holoscreen before them.

" _This is Citadel News Network, bringing you urgent news," A rather frantic looking Asari hurried to scramble through the information in her holotablet, "The entirety of the Batarian Hegemony has just been conquered by foreign powers only refered to as the Allied powers by Batarian prisoners, and Palaven has just recently fallen to enemy control."_

" _Independent Batarian colonies that have remained neutral throughout the conflict are unharmed, but there have been accounts of Batarian civilians arming themselves with looted weapons and fighting alongside the Allied forces against the Hegemony, with some even helping them in the reconstruction efforts following the aftermath of the war."_

" _For now, the Batarians have managed to reestablish peace throughout their section of space, and formed a new government known as the Free Batarian Republic, it's principles mostly adopted from the Asari Republic, whilst Turian forces struggle to maintain their defensive against the Allied powers who have managed to capture over two dozen colonies._

" _We will keep you updated about further developments. Reporting for Citadel News Network, I'm Naaki Vaara."_

Tevos and the others were shocked; it had been only two weeks since the attacks on Batarian and Turian soil had begun, and for the Hegemony to fall so soon after the beggining of the war...

Worse still, the Turians were being beaten on a scale never seen before, not since the Krogan Rebellions did they suffer such humiliating defeats in their home space.

"Clearly we cannot ignore this war for much longer, Tevos," Her human counterpart, Anderson said, "If we don't-"

"I get it, Anderson," Tevos hissed through gritted teeth, "Just let me think this through."

Wearing a blue military dress befitting of his status as a renowned N7 soldier – and the first of the N7 initiative – he directed an angry glare at the grandiloquent Asari Councilor who constantly wore a mask of understanding and compassion to fool others to symphatise with the Council, and who was currently no doubt trying to find a way to bring the new unknowns under Council rule.

"You know we cannot delay any further Tevos," The Salarian Councilor, Valern, countered, "Our fleets are not as strong as the Hierarchy's, and we can-"

"I said, I get it," Tevos growled impatiently, silencing any further remarks by Valern.

Valern was also a former soldier, though he was more of a stealth agent to be precise. Formely of STG, or Salarian Task Group in short, he was asked by Tevos to fill in the vacant position of Salarian Councilor when the previous one died of old age, a victim of his considerably shortened lifespan.

As the Salarians were the primary intelligence arm of the Council, STG was not made for direct combat against organised military forces, neither was it made for aiding diplomatic matters; something best left to the Asari. As such, he was slightly apprehensive about allowing the war to rage on without pause.

"We will try diplomacy with them, see if they can be made to see reason," Tevos suggested.

"I don't know about this, but I'd rather see what capabilities these Allied powers have before trying to devote any military support," Anderson said, a hint of caution in his voice.

"Best have STG spy drones in place, to get a better view of what is happening," Valern said.

Tevos could only nod in agreement; she could only hope the talks for peace would succeed, before the threat looming in the horizon became far too great that even a monumental effort would be insufficient in eliminating it.

IIOII

Vayr Cali was sweating rivers just waiting for the Diplomatic fleet to reach its destination. As it exited the relay leading to the Batarian home planet, she could suddenly see just how insignificant both she and her fleet were in comparison to the gargantuan fleet of monstrous-sized ships she and the rest of the crew saw.

For every ship, their sensors registered their length at over a kilometre in length, with the largest at a staggering, nearly heart-stopping hundred kilometres in length. Goddess, the behemoth of a ship surpassed even the Citadel in sheer size! Not to mention they outnumbered the fleet a hundred to one!

Several dozen smaller craft, what she assumed to be fighter craft or what they were considered by the occupying force to be scouting ships, were flying around the ships in what was undoubtedly a routine patrol, ensuring no other ships caught them off-guard.

" _Ambassador Vayr_ ," a synthetic, monotone voice called to her, " _The unknown ships are hailing us_."

" _Patch them through_ ," Vayr commanded, not willing to earn the ire of the occupying force.

Soon, the holoscreen displayed the image of what seemed to be a brown-skinned, masculine humanoid having mini tusks for teeth, bright, piercing blue orbs that currently looked in surprise at the Asari before him.

He wore what looked like a bear pelt on top of his head which cascaded down his back like a cape, blocking much of his black hair from view, along with archaic yet modernised armor with many runes of an unfamiliar language adorning the breastplate and pauldrons coloured in a primary cobalt blue, the metallic pieces a slightly lighter steel grey.

Focusing his gaze on the Asari before him, he coughed softly into a fisted hand, before saying in clear, albeit accented, gruff English, " _This is Commander Kraoran Battlescream of the AC Frostfang, of the Allied forces currently occupying Khar'shan. Identify yourself, unknown fleet, or risk annihilation._ "

Now she was starting to panic; now that they were discovered, the entire Allied fleet began to focus its sights on the diplomatic fleet, some even beginning to charge their weapons in preparation to open fire. What should she do, what should she do...

Quickly moving her lips to save her own skin, she barely stuttered out: " _I am Vayr Cali, ambassador of the Asari Republic. I have come to negotiate peace terms with your superiors_."

The humanoid seemed to mumble to himself in deep thought for a few moments, stroking his short beard as he did so, before ordering in an authoritative tone to a wrist-mounted device on his arm, " _All ships, hold your fire_."

As soon as the humanoid said the order, much to the Asari's relief, the ships powered down their weapons, with the fighter craft returning to their hangar bays in the ships.

She then heard the humanoid Commander say, " _I will relay your request to the Emperor, but do not expect much_."

"Wait!" Vayr pleaded, elicting a raised eyebrow from the humanoid commander.

" _What is it now, Vayr?_ " He questioned, saying the Asari's name for the first time since the near fatally accidental meeting.

"Actually, would it be possible to speak to you first? I and the rest of my species would like to learn more about your species, and the others you are allied with," The Asari suggested, leaving the humanoid commander genuinely surprised, leaving him to ponder about his response to Vayr's request.

" _I suppose you may come aboard the_ Frostfang _whilst my surbodinates inform our leaders. But do remember: We will not tolerate any provocation of war, despite your peaceful intentions,_ " Kraoran warned.

"Of course, thank you for the opportunity," Vayr said as the holoscreen became blank, devoid of any image.

 _All according to plan,_ Vayr thought as she took the brief time she had to calm her jittery nerves by taking deep breaths, _now we try to steal as much information as possible whilst I take care of negotiations._

IIOII

She took the time to immerse herself in her surroundings as she walked to the meeting room where she would be talking with the ship commander in person. Simplistic, rugged decor was what mainly comprised the interior of the ship's corridors, though there were a few animal skulls and glowing markings that stood out, causing Vayr to swallow nervously everytime she cast a glance at one of them.

Most of the guards were the same race as the brown skinned humanoid she talked to prior to her boarding of the _Frostfang_ , though there were a few recognisable humans socialising with the occassional panda-

Wait, giant panda-men? And women? Was she seeing things? Vayr was certainly unsure what caused these pandas to turn into an actual sapient species; from her few lessons with human biologists, pandas were an animal species native to Earth, and were incapable of moving fast like other animals, so why-

"These people you see are called Pandaren," A humanoid guard told Vayr in his gruff accent, "They gained sapience thanks to exposure to high concentrations of magic in life-giving waters."

Magic? Of all the possible explainations, he could only say it was because of magic?

The mere notion was ridiculous; all supernatural occurences were attributed to biotics, prenatal Eezo exposure allowing the wielder to perform feats thought impossible using the nervous system's responses to generate power.

She decided to leave it for later. These... Pandaren, as her humanoid guide had called them, were predictably obese and had black and white fur covering their bodies, and all wore a black outfit made from linen whilst carrying staves of sorts.

Exactly what was with the Allied troops' need for outdated weaponry, when they already had the technology to craft firearms capable of massacring squads of infantry in a few seconds?

She had no time to ponder, however, as she finally met Kraoran Battlescream face-to-face.

He looked slightly older than what Vayr saw on the holoscreen, with a few wrinkles previously not seen due to the holographic nature of the screen, but they seemed to enhance his handsomeness rather than despoil it.

Vayr asked for her Commando guards to stay at the entrance to the door whilst she sat down on the table provided for them, Kraoran doing the same.

"Greetings, Vayr Cali," Kraoran said in a polite manner, "As you know, I am Kraoran Battlescream, commander of the Frostfang serving the Azerothian Coalition, and the Allied powers as a whole."

"I am pleased to meet you, Kraoran," Vayr greeted in the same manner the ship commander did, "Before we go on with negotiations, might I kindly ask what is your species called?"

Kraoran seemed pleased that Vayr asked such, and graciously answered: "My kind are known as the Orcs, originally native to our homeplanet of Draenor. We were originally scattered into several tribes, struggling for dominance among each other until other races arrived."

"Other races?" Vayr uttered the words like they were unfamiliar on her tongue, "Did they happen to have some sort of spacefaring technology to manage to find your world?"

Upon hearing the Asari ambassador's question, he laughed heartily as if what Vayr asked was a joke of sorts, making her shift very uncomfortably in her seat.

"By the Ancestors, no! They came to our world by a magic portal!" He said as he attempted to calm his swelling amusement, "You honestly need to get yourself exposed to a world not involving biotics for once!"

Vayr's mind stopped at the familiar word uttered from the Orc's mouth. If they knew all about biotics, then they should have come across Prothean ruins, did they not?

The million credit question was, if they already knew about biotics, why have these Allied powers never explored the potential of biotics in their people?

Sensing Vayr's sudden serious mood, Kraoran's mood sobered immediately as he composed himself, willing to answer any questions the Asari might have for him. One problem the Asari – and perhaps the rest of the Council – would have, was that they would not accept their usage of AI, as since their ships used Prothean technology, they most likely stumbled on a Prothean beacon that warned them that the Protheans did not trust AI.

He mentally cursed himself for mentioning that the Allied powers knew about biotics; though there were a few biotics in the military who bore Exso amps to give them enhanced biotic powers, they were a very small minority at best, making up less than one percent of the whole Allied population, magic and psionics still being the popular powers used in daily life.

The Warchief would not approve of his breaking of orders, but the High Emperor certainly had something else in mind; he always was quite the strategist to be able to come up with some sort of nefarious scheme to foil his enemies.

Coughing into his hand in a poor attempt to get Vayr's attention, Kraoran began to answer some of Vayr's concerns.

"We stumbled upon some Prothean ruins in our home system, and from the beacon within the ruins, we learned about the uses of Element Zero and by extension, biotics."

Vayr turned her full attention, her commando guards doing the same without making it obvious, as Kraoran continued his explaination.

"However, we did not bother reverse-engineering their technology or relying solely on Eezo for our technology," Kraoran said to stave off any questions as he continued, "Instead, we went on a different route. We developed our own technology, by simply learning the important aspects of other technology and making it better; always inventing, always innovating, this ushered a new age of invention, a golden age of prosperity unparalled in comparison to other periods of time ever documented in our history."

"Then, the Burning Legion came."

The Asari ambassador could see the Orc's hands clench hard into fists, his features hardening, eyes narrowing as his fangs began to show through his thin lips, his voice turning into a growl as his anger began to overcome his rudimentary discipline.

Eventually his anger began to subside, albeit slowly, and as his facial features began to soften, he apologised: "Forgive my earlier outburst, but the Burning Legion was an enemy not to be trifled with in the time of it's existense."

Vayr asked nervously: "M-Might I ask what is this Burning Legion?"

Kraoran only focused a sombre gaze on the Asari, his look brookering no nonsense as he said, "Prepare your recording spy drone, this will be very long."

Vayr was about to retort, when Kraoran held up a recognisable hovering robotic unit, held in place by some sort of invisible restraint since it was unable to even leave the Orc's hand.

Vayr could feel her world crashing down on her at that moment. Their pretence of an honourable diplomatic meeting was seen through. Now there was no chance of making peace with these Allied powers through the Orcs at all, now that they've blown their cover.

"If you are wondering what will happen to the conquered territories of the Turian Hierarchy," Kraoran began, "They will be returned to the Hierarchy as soon as an armistice is agreed upon."

Wait, if they were attacking the Hierarchy in the first place, then why would they even return their conquered territories?

"This is because of a special request made by of one of our Turian prisoners of war, who goes by the name of Councilor Sparatus," The Orc commander said, as if he read the Asari's mind.

Councilor Sparatus, the Turian who instigated the invasion of Allied territories. Vayr was almost wanting to mandate his punishment for causing the string of events that completely disrupted the status quo, and resulted in complete chaos across the galaxy.

"Now, where were we?" Kraoran asked, as if he forgotten the eailer topic of discussion.

"I believe you were going to indulge me in your nation's bloody history with this 'Burning Legion'."

"Oh yes, it was indeed the bloodiest period of our time," Kraoran agreed, "And it was certainly not the last."

IIOII

 _An Orc ran through the ruined corridor of the formely primitive, but no less formidable Blackspire Citadel, as burning comets of bright lime green fell from the sky in a vertable hailstorm, as his fellow Frostwolf clansmen rushed to fight the invasion forces rushing their defences all over Draenor._

 _The once cloudy, but pristine skies of the savage world was now burning with felfire, as demons streamed throughout the continent, killing both Orc and Draenei alike._

 _They received reinforcements from both the Alliance and Horde, which gave them an increased number of soldiers and advanced equipment to fight with, but the Burning Legion's numbers were infinite; every time a demon was killed, several more took its place._

 _All across the skies, bright streaks of felfire clashed with lances of sapphire blue, as Azerothian ships were valiantly fighting off the Demon invasion force whilst suffering heavy casualties on their part._

 _It had been only three years since the Alliance and Horde began to put aside their differences and prepare for the inevitable invasion by the Burning Legion, with the Draenei sharing their advanced technology, whilst the Master Chief and Green Dragon sped up the process; they still had to rely on portals to connect the two worlds of Draenor and Azeroth._

 _Yet, despite advances in technology never thought possible, it was still not enough. Thousands of soldiers were dying, and many more civilians were becoming victims of the slaughter that ensued in the opening moments of the invasion._

 _Azeroth was faring little better; the various dragonflights and other independent factions, including the Shado Pan and Four Celestials, struggling to maintain the defensive effort alongside the Alliance and Horde, even with King Varian Wrynn and Warchief Vol'jin entering the battle themselves._

 _To his acurssed luck, a felfire comet streaked towards his position, killing his entire squad on impact as limbs and rocks scattered in all directions._

 _His head throbbed with pain, his senses dulled by the sudden loud noise threatening to damage his eardrums and deafen his hearing. More pain, excruciating pain was felt throughout his body as fragmented rocks penetrated through his skin, causing multiple wounds both minor and major._

 _The Green Dragon told of a way they could win against the Burning Legion; not score a total victory, more of a way to at least delay the inevitable fight with a centuries' old enemy that had a former Titan as it's leader._

 _But it was four hours into the invasion, and the superweapon they had prepared had yet to fire. The Green Dragon, an Elven arcane warrior, had stated that he needed time to prepare the superweapon, three hours into the invasion, but how much longer does he really need? His fellow Orc brethren and brothers-in-arms were sustaining massive casualties._

 _A bright beacon of light shot forth into the sky, alerting Kraoran of only one thing, one thing that had reinstilled hope and a willingness to continue to fight on._

 _The activation of the superweapon, known as the Godwraith._

 _The Godwraith was devised by several Dwarven and Gnomish technological experts from the Alliance, and knowlegeable magi from both powers and many independent factions, with even the Celestials and Dragonflight leaders lending their aid._

 _It made use of a huge Crystal core, infused with the pure essense of a Narru and powers of the Dragon Aspects to emit a pulse of mana that would kill a large number of demons and weaken Sargeras to the point that he would remain silent for several centuries._

 _If the power core was insufficient in fuelling the pulse, there was a huge reservoir of mana distributed throughout several compartments in the superweapon to amplify the sonic wave's strength by seventyfold, ensuring that the Godwraith would fufill it's intended purpose._

 _Theoratically._

 _The Orc always hated it whenever the Green Dragon said that his plans would work theoratically; it always meant that there might always be something unexpected that would throw a wrench into the plan, and that someone might either suffer a chronic headache or a simple heart attack._

 _Nonetheless, the Godwraith had fufilled it's intended purpose. Every demon that was caught in the blast radius, they had either disintegrated into nothing but ashes of their former selves, not retaining the dignity of having their faces recognised, or simply burned in a wreath of fire that burned endlessly at the flesh, yet not being extinguished by any magic on the demons' part, a final reckoning for their ruthless conquests._

 _A loud, inhuman and pseudo god-like scream reveberated throughout the world, making it's way to even the most remote corners of the world of Draenor, and most likely Azeroth as well._

 _They had done it. They had truly done it._

 _Even though the Burning Legion would one day come back to exact bloody vengeance, they had done it._

 _For the first time since the existense of time, since the Titans had mysteriously vanished, the mortals had scored a major victory against the Bane of a Thousand Worlds._

 _The demons would learn that neither Azeroth nor Draenor would be so easy to conquer._

 _And they would certainly rethink waging war against them.  
_

"And now, my people, the Orcs, stand as a proud people of the Azerothian Coalition, which stands as a proud member of the United Allied Powers," Kraoran finished, a sense of pride noticeable in his voice.

Vayr could not help but be mesmerised in Kraoran's brief recounting of his people's – no, his entire nation's history; never in her entire centuries' long life did she so diligently listen to another nation's history lesson, and that was when she still attended school, long before she became a diplomat.

True, she may have at least listened out of curiosity about the history of other cultures; Human, Turian, Salarian, but none of them proved to be as mesmerising as Kraoran's recounting of his people's history.

For the Coalition's to have faced such devastating wars before even elevating to the galactic stage, and still managing to build themselves back up even after facing such manslaughter and devastation, they were certainly resilient in the face of adversity.

Vayr was even more confident now that under the Council's guidance, the Coalition would certainly give up their saucy technological secrets and become willing subjects that would admit the member races' superiority.

But first...

"What about the Batarian home systems?" Vayr asked, her earlier good mood fading away. "We heard that they are establishing a new government after you conquered the Hegemony and dismantled it, so why haven't your fleets pulled out yet?"

"Ah, I was about to tell you the reason," Kraoran's face lit up, as if he had just found his inspiration. "You see, the new government actually requested us to station our fleet as a peacekeeping force to deter any mercenary attacks until they can reestablish their own military. You wouldn't want a new government to collapse as quickly as the old one, do you?"

"I... I suppose not," Vayr conceded the point.

She had to admit, she did not expect the new Batarian government to willingly ask for a peacekeeping force to be temporarily stationed in their space, although due to it's sheer size, it could hardly be called a peacekeeping force; anyone could easily mistake a fleet of such gargantuan proportions as a conquering force instead, paving the way for... drastic consequences.

Vayr could only thank the Goddess that these Allied powers did not come with the intention of conquering, she shuddered at what would have happened if these newcomers had brought their full army to bear on the Citadel.

A sudden beep sounded from Kraoran's side, prompting the somewhat seasoned Orc commander to check on a crimson glowing wrist-mounted object, afterwhich he turned to face the Asari ambassador.

"It was nice talking with you, Vayr Cali," Kraoran spoke, "But I'm afraid I have been recalled to Palaven to act as an escort whilst our leaders sign a treaty with the Turian Hierarchy. You may tell your superiors that everything is fine with the Batarians, though the outcome with the Turian situation is still yet to be determined."

Now that was just disappointing; Vayr was hoping she could ask Kraoran to contact his leaders to get them to join the Council, but her being mesmerised in the Orc's history lesson had actually cost her valuble time, a rather decent embarassment on her part. Nonetheless, the Asari ambassador had at least managed to gleam vital information regarding the Hierarchy and new Batarian government, so she could still confidently bring back some good news.

"Is it possible for the Asari Republics to send more delegations in the future? Perhaps engage in negotiations should the chance arise?" Vayr asked with a hint of hopefulness in her voice.

"If my superiors allow it," Kraoran answered vaguely, "But before you go, here's one piece of advice."

Now the Orc's features hardened, highlighting the seriousness of the words he was about to say.

"Beware of the situation in Omega, for we have heard about it from both the Turians and Batarians. Due to repeated attacks by mercenaries on both Batarian and Allied space, the Allied leaders have decided that they have had enough, and are planning to mount a massive offensive on Omega itself."

"When they do attack, warn your leaders and those of other affiliated powers of the Council to _not_ intervene in the coming conflict; doing so would be tantamount to declaring war on the Allied powers, for they will not take kindly to anyone other than those aiding them in the war."

Kraoran then proceeded to place a meaty hand on the Asari's slender shoulder, fixing a hardened glare on Vayr's eyes.

"I know you are wiser than those of your government, so do your best to dissuade them from their intended course of action."

Vayr gulped nervously. "And if they refuse to listen?"

Kraoran simply closed his eyes, his features softening as he withdrew his hand.

"Then may your diety help them all," He intoned, answering all concerns Vayr had about the upcoming conflict the Orc was kind enough to inform her about.

Something was not quite right. She, and by extension the Asari Republics were an unknown to the Allied powers, even if they had managed to find a copy of their codex from surfing through Batarian or Turian computers.

If that was the case, then just what compelled the kind Orc, Kraoran Battlescream, to even indulge her attempt in negotiating with the Allied powers through him, or even tell her about the attack the Allied powers were planning on Omega?

Unless... It was because his superiors ordered him to do so? Or perhaps he simply disobeyed orders out of concern for Vayr's people? She was more inclined to believe the latter, as she did notice a hint of genuine concern in Kraoran's softening features.

Far too many unknowns, and much more confusion began to tax Vayr's mind as she struggled to find answers to her questions; the more answers she found, the more unanswered questions began to fester in her mind.

Left with no other option, she summoned what courage she had and asked Kraoran: "Why are you even telling me all of this? What sort of reasons do you have?"

Kraoran simply fixed a no-nonsense look at Vayr, and answered: "It was partly because of concern, and partly because the leaders wanted the whole Asari Republics to know one thing: 'Do not trifle with the Allied powers'."

Kraoran could see the sheer confusion in Vayr's face; she had only gotten more unanswered questions with the answer given to her. No doubt, her thoughts were raging like a maelstrom in her mind, every answer she sought evading her mind like a leaf dancing in the wind.

As Vayr stood from where she sat down, she nodded her thanks, and left the _Frostfang_ , her shuttle promptly returning to the ship she arrived in. Kraoran watched with a sombre look as he watched the Asari diplomatic fleet travel towards the mass relay, tendrils of azure blue light extend from the massive construct warping around and touching the ships, eventually flinging them out of Batarian space in a brilliant spectrum of lights.

As the last of the diplomatic fleet had left the system, he turned to face an individual who stood behind a wall, the lack of light obstructing many of his body and facial features save his slender, yet pseudo-masculine form and emerald glowing eyes.

"Do you think Vayr will be persuaded to warn her superiors, Lord Alharon?"

The now named Alharon stepped foward into the light, making himself completely visible to the Orc commander.

"After hearing about our planned attack on Omega, she will surely make the efforts to do so, Kraoran," Alharon stated, his voice baritone and thickly accented, "You have done well, Kraoran, but we must make haste to Palaven. Amarthathor prefers that we be punctual in our arrival."

"Of course, Lord Alharon," Kraoran bowed respectfully.

Alharon Theron was the son and successor of Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron, who abidicated at over 820 years old in the year 327, by the Azerothian calender, naming his eldest son Alharon as his successor to lead the Blood Elves in his stead.

Initially many were unsure whether Alharon was truly as capable as his father was, given that he had next to no experience as a politician, especially in diplomacy or as a negotiator to speak of.

He was more than happy to prove them wrong as he once managed to skillfully remove his political opponents' power – Elven nobles who had xenophobic sentiments – at a feast, though he did have the help of the Master Chief and Green Dragon to participate in his master strategy.

Regardless, he quickly distinguished himself in the war against the Burning Legion in the Second Legion War, when the Demon Legion had assaulted the colony in full force, intending to secure a fortified beachead for a war to crush the Azerothian Coalition once and for all.

He managed to score an astounding victory with minimal casualties and damage – in comparison to the previous times they had waged war against the Legion – against a much more powerful attack force, using only a small squadron of highly skilled veterans and a carefully plotted strategy fraught with risks.

Since then, Alharon Theron had been able to lead his people to a brighter future, his efforts ushering in a new Golden Age of peace and prosperity and technological advancements.

The specially Elven made Goldenhawk-class ships were one example of how far the Blood Elves' shipbuilding technology had come; a mix between agility and battle-hardiness, the Goldenhawk-class ship combines the usage of different types of magically powered and magnetic engines with strong alloy plating and mana shields, resulting in a tank of a ship able to dodge most attacks and retaliate with it's mounted spinal cannon and other ship arnaments.

It was no secret that Alharon himself commanded the flagship of the entire Sin'dorei navy, the Eye of Lor'themar, which was a Goldenhawk-class ship and a joint project between the Azerothian Coalition and the Thedosian Empire long before First Contact with the Korprulu Alliance.

Despite him being as old as 789 years old, thanks to advancements in medicine, all Elves had regained their immortality and were an ageless race once more; Night Elves, Blood Elves and High Elves, they had never thought it possible that technology could ever help them regain their immortality, and Alharon remained as young as if he was eighteen years old.

Onboard the Frostfang, he watched as the Orc-made ship activated it's stellar portal generator, a large violet portal opening and widening before his very eyes. Once it had widened until it was large enough for the ship to pass through, the atmosphere beyond the ship's command deck had shifted from the cold, dark expanse of space to a dimension swirling bright violet and dark azure.

Stellar portal generators were designed to artificially create portals the way mages do; fundamentally, they were made to transport ships of all sizes. Whether they be battle cruisers or simple scout prowlers, they operated using a seperate energy core containing a specially treated crystal core that amplified the artificial portal's strength without draining substantial amounts of power from the ship's main core.

Normally, no one would have problems handling their first times travelling through space using such a method, but with the Batarians and Turians having been introduced to the Allied powers through brief but brutal wars, there have been numerous problems regarding how both ex-Council races should revamp their technology without causiung too many deficits in their overall military and civilian structures.

Said problems were mainly in the form of scientists beginning to hit dead ends in their research projects involving the new Exso technology offered to them. Both races did find that Exso had far more utilities than Eezo in it's pure state, but that was also the exact reason why there was hardly any progress in their work; they had just no idea how to further utilize the isotope's properties.

Nonetheless, both governments were grateful to the Allied powers, and have reported great success with replacing biotic amps for their soldiers, though they now needed trainers to supervise them on controlling their newly enhanced biotics.

Sighing heavily as he stared into the ripples of violet and azure, Alharon could only hope that the Turians and Batarians could open their eyes to the larger threats that could spell the end of the galaxy, lest they abandon the restraints of Eezo and finally begin to acknowledge that the Council was no longer the sole power of this galaxy.

 _May the Sunwell awaken these aliens to the possibility of a full-scale war_ , the Elven Lord thought to himself as he sat down on a nearby chair, closing his eyes for a quick nap.

IIOII

Aria T'loak was not a happy Asari at all. As the self-named ruler of the cesspit of crime known as Omega, she was charged with leading all mercenary forces under her command and oversee the state of the colony at large.

Omega was a city built into a mined-out asteroid that used to be brimming with Eezo deposits. Once the reserves ran out though, mining operations predictably ceased and the asteroid was left alone; nearly, when some who saw that the asteroid field surrounding the former mining site created a natural barricaded space, and there was a lot of empty space that could be utilised to create a new colony to handle more settlers, especially since the Council was running out of worlds to colonise after the Rachni wars.

She sat down on a soft leather couch, drinking a glass of ryncol in a poor attempt to assuage her irritation.

It had been two weeks, two weeks ever since the last convoy of transports smuggling Eezo to the Turian and Batarian governments had never returned since their departure. She had heard virtually nothing from the missing transports. No messages, no video transmissions, absolutely nothing.

It was almost threatening to give the Asari overlord a terrible migrane just pondering on how the mercenaries managed to get themselves captured, or perhaps killed performing their jobs.

At first she was tempted to think it was the Turians. The arrogant millitant species always wanted an excuse to launch an attack on Omega since many mercenary gangs made attacks on their colonies, but could not do so with Tevos always intervening to prevent them from taking such a drastic action; that woman was also the reason why the Asari Republics always had the largest Eezo reserves compared to the rest of the Council races.

However, recent news reports had ruled out that assumption, as the Turians seemed to be busy refitting their ships by the lack of patrols at the edge of their space.

That left either the Systems Alliance or the Batarians as the likely culprits, as the former had always been pressing the Council to address the most recent increase of mercenary attacks on their space, the latter complaining about the same thing.

However, the Systems Alliance's efforts in stemming the number of mercenary and slaver attacks were always interrupted by Tevos' constant waving off of their concerns, saying that they were never severe to the point that it warranted a miniscule war.

As for the Batarian Hegemony, it's slaver attacks were always bold and close to heavily fortified space, mainly because the Council had implemented a law stating that clash of cultures was not acceptable at all, even including slavery.

As she was about to order a refill for her now drained glass, a Batarian mercenary ran up to her, short of breath as he tried to deliver whatever message he thought Aria needed to know through his constant huffing and puffing.

"T-There's an... incoming transmission... meant specially for you, Aria. The one... broadcasting it wants you... to answer immediately."

Wants her? _Demands_ her? Does this person think him superior to the point that he or she must demand her to answer such a mundane transmission?

For now she would entertain this mysterious person, if only to make one rule clear.

Don't fuck with Aria.

Unfortunately for the Asari, she would be doing no such thing, because as soon as she did answer the transmission, she came face-to-face with a stern-looking humanoid wearing the strangest armor she had ever seen, who bore crimson irises and pointed ears that caught the Asari's attention.

Aria could not believe her eyes. Pointed ears, fair complexion, long blonde hair flowing down his back, he almost looked like one of those Elves her Human subordinates kept talking about and flashing pictures of. She was, at first, inclined to think this was nothing more than a prank being played on her, foolish move as it may be using costumes and such.

She overruled that thought when she saw his pointed ears twitch. Yes, _twitched_ , as if they were real ears and not some sort of byproduct as a result of illegal genetic manipulation.

Snapping out of her stupor, as it was unbefitting of the ruler of Omega, she demanded in an impatient tone lacking any curtesey, "Who the fuck are you, daring to make a transmission to the ruler of Omega?"

The 'Elf' seemed amused by Aria's order, a sly smile gracing his lips as he decided to humour her demand.

" _I am Erlan Heiquinal, leader of the vigilante group known as the Blademasters of Andarath,_ " He introduced himself, his earlier smile now changing to a blank mask " _I and the rest of my company, along with many other mercenary and vigilante groups, have congregated to attack, and eventually conquer Omega for the Thedosian Empire and its allies, for we have decided that it is time for your reign to end, self-proclaimed ruler of Omega._ "

"You think you're so high and mighty that you go so far as to disrespect me, Erlan?" Aria seethed, her anger growing worse by the minute, "I'll have you know, I am Aria T'loak, ruler of Omega. Everyone that lives in this station obeys one rule: Don't. Fuck. With Aria."

" _Pity, it seems you cannot be reasoned with,_ " Elran said, looking at Aria as if she was some pitiful child who did not know what she was doing, and it proved very insulting to the Queen of Omega.

" _No matter, we have cordoned off the Omega-4 relay and blocked all access on both sides, so you are effectively alone. I'm pretty sure some of our Krogan allies would love to get back at the 'Blue Bitch Queen' that has cheated them one time too many._ "

" _Farewell, Aria T'loak,_ " Erlan said as he placed a helmet on his head, " _May you treasure the last fleeting moments of your rule._ "

With a final mocking gesture of fake politeness, the Elven leader had cut the transmission, leaving Aria infuriated beyond description.

Seconds afterward, she began tossing around empty bottles of liquor and overturning expensive furniture that cost thousands of credits to buy, not caring if she scared off more than a few of her bodyguards as they turned a blind eye to her tantrum.

Never before, in her centuries' long life, has someone had the audacity to challenge Aria's undisputed rule over the station of Omega, not since she killed the previous ruler who was a Krogan mercenary and asserted her dominion over all the denizens of the mercenary haven Omega had come to be known as.

The fact that the 'Elf' she was takling to had the balls to declare such words to her, either meant that he did not know about the iron-clad rule Aria had implemented, or that he was very confident he could achieve such a thing without sustaining massive casualties; Omega was, afterall, a veritable fortress in the right hands.

Just then, a Turian bodyguard rushed up to her, short of breath and stained with blue blood as he ignored the state of unrestrained fury his domineering ruler was in.

"We've got trouble! Big trouble on our hands, Aria!" The Turian shouted and repeated, clutching a bleeding wound where his armor was punctured by a bullet wound as he winced in pain.

Aria, seeing the injured state of the Turian, immediately composed herself and grabbed a nearby Mattock rifle, coking the gun as she asked the Turian, "What the hell happened?"

"I-It's a full-scale invasion! It's the real deal, and plenty of our guys are-"

The Turian halted halfway through his brief report as he felt another jolt of pain through his open wound. He quickly reached for a small canister containing a green sort of jelly-like liquid attached to his belt. Popping off the cover, he proceeded to apply the pseudo liquid jelly onto his wound, which quickly sealed it to staunch the blood flow from his wound.

Confident that the wound was at no risk of infection, he proceeded to continue his rudely unfinished report.

"We've been bombarded by strafing runs made by their fighter craft on our fortified positions, targeting our bunkers, AA guns and the like. Afterwards, they began landing troops on the outermost regions of the station."

He rubbed his eyes with a bloddied hand, wiping the few tears his Turian discipline would allow him to shed.

"It's a massacre, Aria. They got the advantage in both technology and numbers, not to mention that they seem to know every intricacy of waging war, having more experience than us in comparison."

Now he began wimpering like a little child, the last vestiges of his discipline falling apart before Aria's eyes, something she was not expecting at all, not even from a Turian.

"And then those... monsters..." His voice croaked at the last word, "Somehow, these attackers have monsters on their side, and they're doing a very good job at cutting through our veteran mercenaries and defenses like wet paper."

The Asari shook her head to make sure her ears were not toying with her mind. What the Turian just said and the manner he delivered the report was very disturbing, and if he was correct, then Omega would soon be lost to these invaders, much to Aria's dislike.

But as much as Aria hated the thought, she was sure she would have to escape and leave Omega alive, if only to bide her time until her kingdom was hers once more.

This was because no ordinary invasion force would have the ability to so easily reduce Turian discipline into nothing more than tatters; all Turians, military or mercenary, all served a mandatory military service for a few years, developing a sense of strict discipline that had become renowned throughout the Galaxy, so even in the face of difficult odds, they would not panic or easily lose control of their emotions.

Just as she was about to ponder her options though, a loud roar followed by rumbling felt throughout the whole club brought her attention to the main entrance.

It was buckling under tremendous amounts of stress, a number of huge dents in the door emphasising that fact. That, and every new huge dent was followed by a loud banging sound that came from the other side.

Already? They had already managed to get this far into her territory? This did not bode well for her at all, or her dominion over Omega.

Leaving the Turian for dead, she quickly dashed to the other side of the club of Afterlife, rifle in arm with energy thought lost during her younger Asari days. Her bodyguards followed suit with their weapons, moving to form a loose protective formation around their leader as they made for the other exit to the lower docks.

She would bide her time. Once the time was right, her kingdom would be hers once again.

IIOII

It had been utter chaos throughout the whole station as the invasion forces inched closer and closer to the inner districts of Omega. Even something as simple as dashing towards the secret docking bays buried within the innermost bowels of Omega was fraught with risks, as shots rang at every corner, every turn as more and more mercenaries died by the minute.

She did not even know how long she had been dashing towards her only escape route, her mind utterly focused on avoiding clashes that would cost her precious seconds and mobility.

More than half of her bodyguards had already died from stray shots that were lucky enough to find their marks, leaving Aria with less than half of the protection she had initially set out with.

But it had been worth it. Through their sacrifice, and countless minutes of madly dashing like a madwoman, she had finally reached her salvation from this whole mess.

A set of doors lay just in front of her, their undamaged, pristine state tantalizing her desire for freedom.

She could almost smell it, the scent of freedom looming just beyond

Just a little further... a little further.. and she would be far from the clusterfuck she became trapped in.

She would not live to see that dream come true.

Ethereal projections of arrows shot cleanly through the door, completely bypassing both Aria's and her bodyguards' kinetic barriers and piercing cleanly through their high-grade armor like melted butter.

As Aria's mouth began filling with the coppery taste of blood, the doors parted to reveal several more 'Elves' holding bows of sorts, her mind wondering as to why they still used such primitive weaponry, and vigilantes of other races, all of them working as one cohesive unit.

As they aimed their weapons at her, a voice boomed out: "Let me through."

Hearing the commanding voice, they parted to allow their supposed leader to pass through, who turned out to be...

Erlan Heiquinal. The one and only.

She could not believe that he and his forces had so easily managed to triumph over the feared boogeymen of the galaxy, which were in fact the notorious mercenary gangs that had managed to outrun both Alliance and Council forces time and again, in just one day.

She could not think of any moment more humiliating than any other event in her entire life. Her, the ruler of Omega, officially brought low by a group of more experienced vigilantes who managed to injure her to such an extent.

Erlan stood over Aria, simply staring at her dying form as he weighed his options in his mind regarding Aria's life.

In those last moments, the soon-to-be ex-Overlord of Omega remembered the last words Erlan had said to her before her impending demise.

 _May you treasure the last fleeting moments of your rule._

Then, he drew his bow, an iridiscent shaft of energy passing off as an arrow materialising in his fingertips...

And let loose the bowstring, the shaft piercing cleanly through the Asari warlord's skull, spilling a trail of blue blood at it's exit point.

Nearby civilians who watched the execution could not believe their eyes at all. No one, no single individual in the entire history of Aria's rule had anyone ever dared, no, they had not even a shred of courage to stand up to the Asari overlord that commanded an entire legion of mercenaries with a wave of her hand.

But it was not through simple intimidation that Aria T'loak had become as feared throughout Council space as she was then. She was also very shrewd and knowlegeable in the art of both in-atmospheric and space warfare, and had even stood toe to toe with platoons of the Turian Hierarchy, and managed to score victories one time too many.

She was also reputed as an intelligent businesswoman, having earned hundreds upon thousands of credits from profitable smuggling runs and illegal weapons trade to various other mercenary factions such as the Blood Pack and Blue Suns, and certain extremist groups such as the xenophobic Turian militants operating throughout Hierarchy space.

To see her life end at the hands of some humanoid vigilantes using strange technology and unnatural biotics, it was almost too much of a dream come true.

Or for some others, an absolute nightmare made manifest.

"What do we do with Aria's body, Grandmaster?" One of the vigilantes addressed Erlan by his title.

"Burn it," Erlan said, turning away as he did so, "And make sure no speck of ash remains."

Bound by a code of honour, the vigilantes, or the Blademasters of Andarath as the vigilantes named themselves, obeyed his orders out of obligation to said code, and one of them began conjuring a glass bottle containing a sort of translucent oil in his hands, who then proceeded to pour the oil on the corpse of the now deceased Aria T'loak.

Once the bottle was completely emptied and the Asari's body completely drenched in the oil, the same vigilante who poured the oil then proceeded to intone a few words, a sort of final prayer or such, then with a wave of his hand, Aria's body ignited in a brilliant flash of orange.

All who were present for Aria's cremation just watched, as the flames burned her body beyond recognition, from the flesh all the way to the bone...

Then nothing was left once the funeral pyre had finished. No burnt carcass, no speck of scattered ash, absolutely nothing was left behind to indicate that Aria's body was once laying in a pool of blood on that same spot.

Once the surviving mercenaries and civilians had witnessed the Asari warlord's cremation, whether in person or through security cameras, they could all only agree that the impossible had actually happened right before their very eyes.

They had dared challenge the ruler of Omega, and were not crushed for their efforts.

No one knew what lay for them in the future, but it would certainly utterly demolish the status quo many had come to begrudgingly accept.

IIOII

" _...Reports and witness accounts have confirmed that Aria T'loak is indeed dead, and Omega has officially fallen under control of the United Allied powers, as the factions responsible for the capture of the station have identified themselves._ "

" _We will watch out for any developing updates and continue to keep you updated. Reporting for CNN, I'm Naaki Vaara._ "

Tevos cut off the connection to the news broadcast, rubbing her head in a masked attempt to stave off her headache.

It was all happening too fast; first they received reports that the Turian Hierarchy had officially declared itself an ally of the UAP, followed by sudden sharp drops in mercenary presense across the Terminus systems, and now the haven for mercenaries has fallen to the UAP as well.

For years since she became Councilor, she had been content with letting mercenary slaver attacks go unanswered, using them as justification for increasing the military budget to stay on top of the galactic food chain.

But now those same scapegoats were becoming cannon fodder in a wasted try at stemming the tide of UAP forces, in which they utterly failed at their intended objective.

This news was by no small measure shocking to her, considering that Aria was very capable of defending Omega from an invasion force if one did arrive, though she was not expecting either Valern or Anderson to share the same state of mind as they did; considering that both were rather unhappy with her for letting such attacks on their space slide, as if they never really happened.

"So now the infamous Aria T'loak has finally met her demise," Anderson mused, fiddling with a datapad that held no data of importance whatsoever, "I wonder what's the next big change that will come to this galaxy?"

"You almost sound as if you are enjoying the recent string of events, Anderson," Valern mentioned, trying hard to suppress a lighthearted chuckle with a fisted hand, "Though I suppose the recent changes are for the better."

"Aren't they?" Anderson replied to his Salarian counterpart, his happiness erupting into laughter.

As Anderson's laughter had an infectious quality to it, Valern soon joined in, though Tevos was not finding anything funny about the current situation.

Councilor Valern was not like his Turian and Asari counterparts; everytime Shepard had tried to convince them about the previously unknown threat that was the Reapers, and that the Citadel itself was a gigantic mass relay, Sparatus and Tevos predictably denied every word Shepard had uttered from her mouth.

For Valern, however, he was former STG, and STG's motto was collecting information and analysing it before taking real action, and he was not one to easily ignore a threat to the galaxy if he could help it.

And as he simply acknowledged the information Shepard had tirelessly dispensed to him, the recently appointed Human Councilor did something unexpected; he had started becoming friendly with the Salarian figurehead, and began engaging in private discussions on how to better prepare for the Reaper threat in the future.

Suddenly, the private transmitter located in the room they were in began erratically blaring loud, ringing sounds, indicating a top priority message for the Councilors themselves.

This caused both Anderson and Valern to snap out of their happy mood reluctantly, as they were just beginning to enjoy the current state of things. Tevos hurriedly answered the transmission, connecting her to the Captain of the flagship of the Citadel Defense Fleet, the _Destiny Ascension_.

"What is happening, Lidanya?" Tevos asked.

"An entire fleet of ships is appearing just outside of the Citadel, Tevos!" Matriach Lidanya exclaimed, her eyes conveying a look of utter disbelief and shock, "They're just outside range of the mass relay and are numbering in the thousands, and ...by the Goddess, this shouldn't be right!"

"What shouldn't be right?" Tevos inquired, unclear as to what the Asari Matriach was refering to.

"Some of these ships are giant behemoths! Twenty kilometres, fourty kilometres, a few of them even exceed the size of the Citadel!"

That was just not right. No one, no matter how much Eezo reserved that have, would ever fathom building a ship of such gargantuan proportions.

And why is this so? This is because firstly, no mass effect fields could reduce such a huge amount of mass without ripping the ship apart into shreds, and secondly, all of the Eezo in the known galaxy could not add up to the substantial amount of materials required, not to mention the absurd costs that would have to be paid to facilitate the construction of such a giant of a ship.

Just then, a message could be heard on all channels throughout the Citadel, through all sorts of media including television stations and every single omni-tool.

" _This is High Emperor Amarthathor of the Thedosian Empire, speaking on behalf of the United Allied Powers. We have come to deliver our demands to the Council, following the destruction of the Batarian Hegemony and the recent capture of Omega, with Commander Jennefer Shepard acting as liason between the two sides._ "

" _We ask that the defending fleet power down their weapons and clear a landing bay for our transport craft, so we may discuss the terms of our demands to the Council. You have five minutes to make your decision._ "

Once the message had cut off, Tevos returned her attention to Matriach Lidanya, whose eyes began to widen in horror.

"I-It's the Rachni! And the Geth! All forces, fire on the unknown fleet now!"

Whatever hope Tevos had for the upcoming negotiations were immediately dashed upon Lidanya cutting the transmission, prompting the three Councilors to investigate the situation outside.

The Matriach's words were true. A swarm of ships had gathered outside the Citadel, and there was a huge variety of designs visible from where she observed, indicating that there was more than one race comprising the UAP. Some were streamlined and delicate, while others were more angular and bulky, but nonetheless the sight was unfathomable.

An entire fleet of super-dreadnoughts, outnumbering and outgunning the Citadel Defense Fleet severalfold to one.

Yet the Defense Fleet continued their offense, uncaring of such odds, mainly because there were Geth and Rachni ships among the attacking fleet, though there were Quarian and Krogan-made ships as well, which was rather unexpected.

But now the Citadel Defense Fleet was being ruthlessly cut down like lambs to the slaughter, their thin armor plating and kinetic barriers doing nothing to stop the energy arnaments the ships employed in the battlefield.

The Citadel's arms began closing themselves up, a defense measure used if the Citadel's security was compromised by external threats.

Tevos could do nothing but pray that the bloodshed would end soon; too many lives were lost, she did not want to see more add to the count.

IIOII

Amarthathor was busy coordinating the crew of the _Eternal Guardian_ for the battle, the flagship having managed to just avoid severe damage, thanks in large part to the highly advanced shielding the flagship employed. As such, the 'True' dreadnought suffered nothing more than slight scratches on it's hull that was quickly repaired by the regenerative bio-steel engineered by Elven technicians.

Earlier, he had hoped that the news of the capture of Omega would deter any ignoramus within the Defense Fleet's ranks to open fire on the gathered fleet, but it seemed too tall an order to fufill.

Damn those Council races and their synthophobia and fear of Rachni, they just blindly followed the teachings of these Protheans about hating AI and copied their technology, and still feared the Rachni because of their wars, when they should fear the Reapers for what they are capable of!

And now it seemed that the station's arms were enclosing themselves, isolating the denizens from the outside battle.

"Emperor, it seems that the Citadel's defense force is currently utilizing a defense mechanism, by using the arms as shields to protect the station from further damage," Taenith reported, his avatar materialising in a flash of blue hexagons in a projector next to the Emperor.

So they at least managed to find out about such a function of the Citadel? No matter, a plasma lance should take care of that.

"I want the ship's main cannon to target the station's arms," The Emperor ordered, "Open a passageway for our strikecraft and transports to deploy ground forces."

Immediately compling, the crew scrambled to redirect the cannon's firing range to the Citadel itself, metal plates shifting to reveal a pulsing core of azure blue energy that began glowing ever so brighter, aiming directly at the station itself.

A bright lance of blue energy shot forth from the spinal cannon of the _Eternal Guardian_ , decimating whatever enemy ships were in the trajectory of the beam and burning a clean hole in the Citadel's structure, completely detatching two arms from the station.

"Deploy the 202nd and 431st Arcanetrooper Battalions and a detatchment of the Knights of the Starlight through the breach!" Amarthathor bellowed as he took the chip containing Taenith and inserted it into his helmet, "I will be leaving command of the Thedosian navy to Admiral Feriha Bradash."

"As you command, my Emperor," The nearest crew member affirmed the Emperor's order, who then broadcasted it for the whole Thedosian navy to hear.

Undoubtedly, the Coalition and Alliance will have deployed their share of forces, along with the Quarians, Geth, Rachni and Krogan, meaning that C-Sec will have no chance of standing up to the invading force, but that did not mean they would put up a valiant effort to stop them in their tracks.

An effort that would be wasted entirely.

Originally, Amarthathor would have simply settled for bombing the station to nothing more than smithereens, given that through the data they had recovered from Prothean ruins, the Citadel itself was a giant mass relay that activated everytime the sick, perverted practice of genocide known as the Cycle was nearing it's end, and it emitted subtle signals that slowly wore down a sentinent being's mental defenses, turning him or her into a mindless slave.

If not for the tireless persuasion on Valerian and Anduin's part, he certainly would have made sure it came to pass.

Instead, he would be content with taking the station by force, since their earlier attempts at attempting to diffuse the conflict had horribly failed, and deliver the UAP's demands to the Council in person.

Although the UAP was initially known as the Allied Triumverate, the collective had to change it's name with the inclusion of the Quarians and geth as new, independent allies.

The Turian forces and the _Normandy_ that have come to act as liason have opted to stay out of the conflict, mostly because they used to be affiliated with the Council races and that many of their friends were still on the station either as civilians or members of C-Sec.

The Batarians, however, were more than willing to participate as part of the attack force that will eventually storm the Citadel, as they were terribly fed up with the Council for having ignored their pleas of help during the Hegemony's authoritarian regime.

Commander Shepard was especially uncomfortable with fighting Systems Alliance soldiers, despite the Alliance Parliament continuously dismissing her warnings about the Reapers, to which Amarthathor honoured her request and asked her to remain behind ally lines.

Upon entering the drop pod launching bay, he entered the one closest to him, securing the safety harnesses onto his body to prevent his person from lurching around in the pod due to the high G-forces it would experience.

Once the pod was full of soldiers, the doors to the pod closed.

With a slight lurch and a sound similar to uncorking a bottle, the pod launched from the ship, Taenith setting the drop point for the pod to impact on the outer rim of the Citadel.

Immediately, the atmosphere became saturated with Eezo slugs being fired from the numerous Anti-Aircraft guns scattered throughout the Citadel, which often were obliterated with well-coordinated strafing runs and lucky missile shots. Though the Council forces were not expecting such a high-level of technology from the UAP, that did not mean they were unable to deal their enemy its share of casualties as well.

Already, many ship Captains were reporting hull breaches and loss of fighter craft from AA fire, with the UAP fleet even losing about three ships, which was actually a feat, considering the huge technological gap between the two sides.

But they were acceptable losses, nothing too serious to worry about. This fleet was, after all, only a miniscule fraction of the UAP's real strength on the galactic scale.

A huge number of drop pods impacted on the station's intact arms with a loud thundering sound, followed by hissing sounds accompanying the pods' doors violently displacing themselves from the constructs as hundreds upon hundreds of troops streamed out of them towards the already beleaguered defenders.

Other troops landed through strange, golden plated transport craft bearing delicate wings that aimed a certain contraption at bare ground, causing several dozens of bipedal, blue skinned soldiers to simply appear from boxes of light, assembling their bodies' atomic structure together in plain space, whilst fearsome creatures resembling the Rachni of sorts landed through bio-organic pods of large proportions that burst upon impact, unleashing swarms of them towards unprepared C-Sec forces.

Hefting his axe, Amarthathor tossed Taenith in chip form towards a whittled-down C-Sec company and removed the visor attacked to his helmet, making it vanish in a flash of arcane fire.

When Taenith neared the defenders, he underwent a transformation from an Artificial Intelligence in a computer chip to a shock trooper in a flash of blue pixels, quickly dispatching what remained of the alien company with quick draws of his bow, shafts of golden yellow magic completely bypassing their kinetic barriers.

Within minutes, Amarthathor's forces had ruthlessly cut a path through the beleaguered C-Sec ranks and made a push towards the Presidium, where the Council was taking shelter from the whole invasion.

Only a few platoons of C-Sec personnel stood in the way of the High Emperor's retinue, forming lines whilst aiming their weapons at the encroaching tide of Thedosian soldiers.

He had to applaud them for their bravery; no one would dare stand in the way of a Thedosian charge, unless they were either Zerg or Protoss, or those who had confidence in their absolute power.

For the unfortunate C-Sec personnel, they never stood a chance, as they were cut down by barrages of concentrated fire and spears flung towards their position, not even doing so much as to even slow them down by brief moments.

Now the way to the Presidium was clear, and no one else was there to stop them, or the other UAP forces.

Now it was time to make demands.

And hopefully, this time, make the Asari and Salarian Councilors realise that the Reapers were far too much of a threat to ignore, or the Burning Legion or the Ethereals.

Either way, nothing would ever be the same for the Council.

IIOII

Tevos could not believe her eyes.

It was a nightmare made manifest; the Defense Fleet was being absolutely decimated by the advanced technology the UAP fleet employed, and C-Sec personnel were being slaughtered left and right all across the Citadel.

Not to mention they managed to dislodge two of the Citadel's arms from the main station, killing thousands of lives.

Anderson could only pray that the UAP would not be so cold-hearted as to annex the whole Council into their fold as payback for what the Batarians and Turians did to them, not to mention that Councilor Sparatus still had not yet returned from UAP territory, which could only mean that something terrible happened to him.

Valern, on the other hand, was less than optimistic about how the current situation would turn out. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, his large pupils blinking continuously to prevent his eyes from being coated in the smelly, salty substance.

Loud banging could be heard from the far side of the Presidium, where the doors of the main entrance were beginning to buckle and bulge under tremendous pressure and strain that they were receiving.

The banging began to get louder and louder, until the doors could withstand the pressure no more as they were violently dislodged from their hinges, clattering harmlessly onto the floor.

An inhuman, beastly roar accompanied a large, reptilian-like creature's entry into the Presidium with several soldiers of both humanoid and unknown races, scaring the nearby guards witless.

The three Councilors could only stay fixated in their seats as the creature trekked through the Presidium, its steps making heavier impacts as the floor began bearing larger indents in it's surface.

Once the creature was close enough to the Councilors, it roared a second time, before somehow wreathing itself in black mist, which began shrinking in size until it was just about large enough to engulf an average human being.

Once the mist reached said size, it dissipated to reveal...

A humanoid-no, an _Elf_ , one of the mythical beings thought only existing in human fiction, here in the Presidium in flesh and blood.

The 'Elf', along with several others who possessed authority over their troops, ordered them to stand down but keep an eye on the guards nonetheless. Afterwards, the 'Elf' then turned to face the Councilors.

"I am Amarthathor, High Emperor of the Thedosian Empire," He introduced himself to the Councilors, not bothering to answer any question they had about his recent transformation, "We have come to make demands to the Council in response to the Turian and Batarian slaver attacks on our space."

 _So, it was the Turians who were responsible for this_ , Tevos thought to herself, _Damn Sparatus and his arrogant pride._

{Don't think you can simply blame the Turians for your countless blunders, Councilor Tevos,} The Asari heard a voice give the mental equivalent of a scowl at her, {If not for Amarthathor, I would have simply killed you here and now!}

"Who's speaking?" Valern asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Both Tevos and Anderson were stunned at this moment; not only did this coalition of species have advanced technology at their disposal, but they could communicate through... telapathy?

They turned to find the source of the voice, who turned out to be one of the pale-skinned bipedal aliens who wore blackish, infernal armor and raidating a fearsome aura that was visible through his crimson glowing eyes, his face lacking any mouth to speak through.

{I am Alarak, Highlord of the Tal'darim Protoss,} The alien stated his name, still scowling at the Councilors.

Then another alien stepped foward, this time one which had sickly brown skin and had no orifice to speak through, closely resembling a Rachni queen but lacking the same skin colour and the claw-protrusions from where the mouth should be.

{I am Zagara, Queen of the Zerg Swarm,} A distinctly feminine, yet slithery voice boomed.

Following Zagara was the Rachni queen herself.

{I am Zi'Thoak, the only remaining Rachni queen of my species.}

Next, there was Legion, the Geth representative.

"I am Legion."

Tevos halted Legion's introduction, much to the annoyance of all those present.

"Exactly why is a Geth here, revered leaders?" She rudely stated, much to the annoyance of those present. Except for Legion, who only swiveled his head around in amusement.

"My kind are more than highly advanced VI who failed to grasp organic emotions, Tevos," Legion answered, fixating a glare of anger at the Asari, "We have evolved from a congregate of machines who only understood basic Eezo technology to true AI who are now staunch allies of the UAP."

"So don't you dare try to insult us, _Asari_ ," Legion seethed, causing Tevos to be taken aback.

"C-Can you show us proof?" Tevos stuttered, trying to find out just how did the Geth suddenly begin to prove all the myths about them wrong.

Legion wordlessly decided to humour her request, and opened a chest plate, revealling a beating organic heart surrounded by cybernetic mechanisms.

Closing it, Legion was content with delivering his point across, and waited for the Quarian delegate to move foward.

Wearing an exotic exosuit decorated with a metallic pauldron and a golden yellow sash across his torso, President Rael'Zorah of the Quarian Republic stepped foward, his mauve skin was in plain view, along with his brightly glowing irises and external sensory ligaments on the back of his head that passed off as hair, and his pointed ears.

In Thedosian or Azerothian society, he would have passed off as a rather handsome Elf who gained the attention of many women, mainly Human and Elven, though he was content with being the husband of Tali'Zorah's mother who was a fellow Quarian.

"I am Rael'Zorah, President of the most recently established Quarian Republic," He proceeded to introduce himself.

Tevos was confused; he did not look like a Quarian at all. Most Quarians had a polarised visor covering their faces from recognition.

"Are you really a Quarian?" She asked.

Rael simply sighed. "It's no surprise that you have not seen our actual faces, given that we were restricted to our exosuits by our atrophied immune systems."

That would explain why he was not wearing his helmet over his face.

Next was Urdnot Wrex, High Chancellor of the Principality of Tuchanka, who wore a new set of crimson painted Exso armor hardened by magical enchantments, and who was also more than happy to berate the Asari and Salarian Councilors for their previous incompetence.

Then came Emperor Valerian of the Terran Dominion, who had honey golden hair tied in a short pony tail and was wearing his version of regal clothing; a military-styled dress uniform with golden encrusted pauldrons protecting his shoulders. A sword lay at his side, which would have had Tevos assuming it was decorative if not for the natural manner in how his hand rested on it's pommel.

His expression remained a blank mask, but he managed to convey the severity of crossing the Korprulu Alliance through the power of his words, making Tevos think twice about trying to steal their secrets.

Following Valerian was High King Anduin Wrynn of the Azerothian Coalition, wearing his late father's steel blue armor, the pauldrons designed as a gryphon's head and a moderately large double-edged sword with a pulsating orange crystal core and a hardwood staff on his back.

Like his Terran counterpart, he refused to tolerate any threat to his people, or any of the UAP factions as a whole, planting his sword into a console to direct his point.

Next was the Batarian ambassador, Ghathe Cros'rass of the New Batarian Republic. He was not hesitant in bombarding both Tevos and Valern in all sorts of slangs and vulgar language possible for not supporting anti-slaver movements all across Batarian space, which would leave Batarian-Council relations strained for a long time.

Finally, much to the surprise of all three Councilors present, came Councilor Sparatus.

Except, he was not wearing his usual blue coloured Councilor uniform. In it's place, he wore a plain white T-shirt and blue slim-fit jeans, which proved far too casual for such a place and time.

But the big question was: Why is Councilor Sparatus not with the UAP as a prisoner?

"Where have you been, Sparatus!?" Tevos snapped at the Turian, her hands slamming on a table, "Have you and your people lost their minds, attacking the UAP!?"

Sparatus seemed unfazed by his Asari counterpart's outburst, and coolly replied: "We did attack the UAP, but in doing so we suffered heavily for our actions; more than few dozen colonies were captured over the past few weeks, thousands of soldiers lost their lives, and all of it proved one thing: The Turian Hierarchy is no longer the strongest military power in the galaxy."

The final nail had been hammered into the coffin. Never had Sparatus so easily admitted that the Hierarchy had comitted one of it's biggest blunders ever since it's existense, or that the Turians were no longer the strongest military force in the galaxy.

"Would you like to state your piece, Commander Shepard?" Amarthathor called out to a woman who mainly hid behind a wall for the most part.

She stepped out, and revealed her mostly undamaged face to the whole Council, though they could see that she was wearing the customary white and black Cerberus fatigues rather than the Alliance's blue dress uniform.

"C-Sec forces are decimated as they are, Tevos," Shepard stated, foregoing any formalities in the meeting, "Those who surrendered are being rounded up and kept that way until further notice, but there are plenty of those who are uncomfortable being in the presense of AI or Rachni, so you can guess where that went."

Tevos could definitely guess where the whole thing was going, which left her with only one option.

"I will listen to all of your demands," Tevos solemnly stated in a defeated manner.

A smirk plastered itself onto Amarthathor's face, satisfied that all was going according to plan, though the smirk disappeared as fast as it appeared.

He took out a scroll of paper, and as he unrolled it, stated out the demands.

"Firstly, the Council is to declare that Omega is officially a territory of the UAP, and that Council patrols are forbidden from entering our space."

That was acceptable, given that Omega was always an unpleasant place to live in.

"Secondly, you are to hereby acknowledge that the Turian Hierarchy is no longer affiliated with the Citadel Council, and that all Hierarchy space is hereby off-limits to Council patrols and Spectres."

Did she just hear that right? If the Hierarchy were to no longer be a part of the Council, it meant that they all had to develop their own military, and the Volus, being a client race of the Hierarchy, would leave the galaxy's economy in the hands of the Asari, and they made extremely poor bankers.

But she had to hold her tongue, lest she risk antagonising the UAP leaders once more.

"Thirdly, you are to acknowledge that the Systems Alliance is a full member race of the Council, and that you are to respect its sovereignty as a galactic power as a whole."

Now they were asking for far too much; the Council had already let the Systems Alliance have a human Spectre, and given them a Council seat, though they did veeto everything Anderson suggested since she wanted the Asari Republic to remain on top of the political food chain.

Unwilling to contain her emotions any further, she snapped at the High Emperor, once again slamming her hands on the table.

"This is unacceptable! You are asking us to do the impossible!"

A shot rang from Amarthathor's handgun, silencing any further complaints from the Asari Councilor, who reluctantly sat back down with indigant fury.

"Finally, you are to reinstate Commander Shepard as a Spectre, with immediate effect."

Tevos had never felt such a strong need to revoke Amarthathor's demands, to make him and the rest of the UAP feel inferior to the Citadel Council, to keep the Asari on the top of the block over all the other races, but such a thing was impossible; the High Emperor effectively held her by the throat, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to avenge this humiliation.

"Anyone who wishes to cast support for this ultimatum, raise your voice now," Amarthathor stated, rolling up the scroll as he did so.

All of the leaders of the UAP stepped foward, ready to cast their vote.

"The Terran Dominion supports your ultimatum."

"The Quarian Republic supports your ultimatum."

"The Azerothian Coalition supports your ultimatum."

"The Principality of Tuchanka supports your ultimatum."

{The Khalai, Nerazim and Tal'darim Protoss support your ultimatum.}

"The Geth Consensus supports your ultimatum."

"The New Batarian Republic supports your ultimatum."

{The Rachni supports your ultimatum.}

It was over.

The status quo that the Asari had worked so hard to establish was demolished in less than a day, and thousands of lives had paid dearly for it. Asari, Turian, Salarian, and possibly some Humans as well.

"The Turian Hierarchy supports your ultimatum."

All eyes in the Presidium turned to Sparatus.

"No more appeasement, no more empty promises. Today, the Hierarchy declares itself an ally of the UAP."

Now it was truly the end, the Council no longer had a military arm to rely on in times of crisis.

Anderson and Valern were genuinely surprised; the UAP had managed to hold the Asari Councilor by her throat and made sure they reaped the maximum number of benefits throughout the whole negotiations, if it could be called such.

"You have heard our ultimatum, now our business is done," Amarthathor said as he turned around to leave with the rest of the UAP leaders.

"However," He turned to give one last look at Tevos, "Should you ever try to override the terms of the agreement, it will be considered a violation of the agreement, and will be considered a declaration of war."

One by one, the leaders of the UAP and their respective guards had left the Presidium, leaving Tevos to slump in her chair with a tiredness she never thought she would have in total defeat, her earlier fury being replaced with anguish and sorrow.

As Amarthathor and the other leaders walked out of the Presidium, the High Emperor narrowed his eyes upon noticing a disturbance in his mind.

{Alarak,} He communicated telepathically with the Tal'darim Highlord, {Do you feel it?}

{As much as you can, Amarthathor, and I am not liking it one little bit.}

Shepard looked around, trying to find out the source of the voices talking in her head.

{It is telapathic communication, Commander Shepard,} The Rachni Queen kindly explained to the Spectre, despite her being equally disturbed.

 _So what has got you guys so hyped up?_ Shepard thought out loud informally, now knowing that the others would be able to pick up her thoughts.

If whatever is disturbing the leaders of the UAP is enough to prevent old enemies from breathing down their necks, it was definitely a cause of worry.

{It is this station,} Zagara said, equally wary of both the Citadel and C-Sec, {It is producing a signal that is very subtle, but noticeable to both psionics and magi, but at the same time subtle enough to go unnoticed by non-psionics.}

 _For those who aren't psionic or a mage, could you please explain how the signal feels?_ Valerian asked mentally, making sure his thoughts were loud enough for everyone included in the mental conversation to hear.

{At first, the signal just persuades you to let down your guard, not bother about the troubles of the galaxy,} Anduin chimed in, {Judging from the signal itself, it would take several months, perhaps over a year to achieve complete control of one person if continuously exposed to the influence.}

 _So whoever built this station has plenty of time on their hands_ , Shepard stated, having learned a new fact about the Citadel.

{And we certainly do not want to become someone else's puppet,} Amarthathor concluded his statement, {The Councilors have not been on the station for that long, have they Shepard?}

 _They certainly haven't_ , Shepard answered, _But Tevos's pride is getting in the way, though Anderson and Valern are more willing to listen._

{We had better increase security across all our borders, just in case,} Zagara suggested, {I would not want to be caught unprepared for the time when this 'Cycle' nears it's end.}

{Neither would we want the Burning Legion to be able to roam unchecked across our space, or these Ethereals,} Anduin finished Zagara's thoughts.

For this, all leaders, including those of the Korprulu Alliance, gave an honest summary of their forces.

{The Empire has had a thousand years to rebuild since the Eternal war,} Amarthathor stated, {All of our planets fully garrisoned, and ready to withstand a siege in times of war.}

{The Protoss are still down to half our number before the Great Wars, even with all three Protoss factions,} Alarak said, {But we are nonetheless ready to defend the entirety of our space.}

{Ever since the Second Legion War, the Coalition has made great progress in reconstruction efforts, but our forces are still eighty percent of what they were in pre-war times,} Anduin explained.

{The Zerg Swarm is completely rebuilt; all losses are replenished and new Hive Clusters have been established. Do not worry, they are all in Zerg space, as per our agreement.} Said Zagara as they began nearing the transports waiting for them.

 _Dominion ground forces are ninety percent replenished and new ship fabrication technologies have ensured that we can park at least one battlecruiser at every colony,_ Valerian stated with confidence, _However, we are still down thirty percent below pre-war levels, which can be a cause of concern._

 _Uh, don't mean to impose, but the Krogan and Quarians don't exactly have a substantial military as of yet; increased Krogan birth rates have allowed us to get a population boom, but we will have to rely on the rest of you people for now,_ Wrex stated, as if the other leaders were forgetting something.

{Not to worry, Wrex. Our treaties have ensured your protection by other factions,} Amarthathor said in answer to Wrex's statement.

 _I hope so,_ Wrex stated doubtfully, _I especially don't think the Asari will take the insult they took lying down._

 _Neither do we, Wrex,_ Valerian chimed in, _Neither do we._

 **A/N: Okay, this is definitely the longest chapter I have ever done. Over 12k words, and this is to make up for the long period of time for which I was away.**

 **So if any of you wish to make a cover art for this fanfic, please PM me and I will consider the offer.**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	8. Assembling Warriors

**A/N: I'm back from my vacation, and the first thing I'm doing is giving you guys the edited version of this chapter, because I have been reading it over and over, and realised that it does not look to be of satisfactory quality in my eyes, and I felt that the part about the Citadel being destroyed came too soon, so I had to rectify that.**

 **Other than that, please enjoy reading.**

 **Akshka:** Thanks for liking the story.

 **Chapter seven: Assembling Warriors**

The old machines were in a state of disarray, no number of repeated simulations and streaming of codes able to give a single answer to how the current state of things had become so complicated and hard to understand.

Something like this was impossible back then; even with the Human individual Evangeline Shepard's interference by submitting evidence of the existense of the old machines and the true purpose of the Citadel itself, the arrogant persona of the Citadel Council should have guaranteed that the consequences of her interference should be minimised.

And yet, somehow, these newcomers had not only utterly demolished the carefully tailored status quo, but also proved to be far more powerful than they expected, something they had to rectify quickly.

The United Allied Powers, the name by which the conglomerate of galactic factions that ruled their parts of the universe, were the cause of all the change that occured throughout the galaxy.

By dismantling the Batarian Hegemony and reuniting the Quarians with the Geth, and making first contact with the Krogan, they had gained more allies and further increased their strength to challenge the Citadel, even though they already outclassed, outmatched and outnumbered the latter in the first place.

Most unexpected, however, was the decision of the Turian Hierarchy to leave the Council for the UAP; specifically for the most powerful of them all, the Thedosian Empire.

The Empire's foundation of its advanced civilisation was something too unfamiliar with anything the machines ever came across, and was something thought nonexistent before, but no longer.

This strange arcanotechnology the Empire employed, a supposed fusion of magic and science, it was an enigma; too complicated for the machines to understand, too strange for them to comprehend.

Of course, they used no such thing in building their ship arnaments, and some of their technology did not involve – or at least, did not completely involve – the usage of magic in their creation, but that was as far as it went.

Their , weapons, cybernetics, FTL drives, everything save their combat abilities were derived from their technology, making it such an integral part of their society that they were masters of it, their speciality in the tech only rivalled by the Coalition.

Then there was the Korprulu Alliance.

Even though they were the weakest of the three major factions, they still had more power than the machines and Council combined, not only with their technology – though the Zerg had no need for such a thing, given that they were a highly adaptive, constantly evolving species of bio-organic creatures that would definitely adapt to the machines' technology – but also with this other unknown power they called psionics.

Psionics, the power of the mind. Again, something thought impossible to exist, but with the arrival of the Kroprulu Alliance, they were once again proven wrong in the most humiliating fashion possible.

One of them, the leader of the machines, contacted one of its subordinates hidden within the Citadel's network.

"Catalyst," It rumbled, its synthetic voice deep and imposing, "What is the situation at the Citadel?"

Its subordinate, identified as Catalyst, replied, " _Harbinger, The UAP have stationed a large fleet numbering over a thousand ships to blockade the relay leading to the station itself, all personnel staying a good distance from the station._ "

They were stationing such a huge fleet at the Citadel? For what purpose could it exactly serve, Harbinger thought as he ran all the possible scenarios through the lines of code that composed his soul.

Could they be doing so in order to prevent any more Council forces from reinforcing the Citadel, should the two sides be at war once more? A perfectly feasible action to take in order to deny the enemy a functioning ship factory – the only one the Council currently had, since they were reliant on the Keepers stationed there to build ships for them.

That, however, was not the real reason, given that the huge difference in technology and numbers would surely result in the UAP's victory. No, it had to be something else, something Harbinger – in all of his years of wisdom and experience – could not even place his synthetic equivalent of a finger on.

For now, they could only wait and watch, closely monitoring what limited activity they could see from the UAP before truly acting, lest they risk compromising their plans for the Cycle.

"Catalyst, continue to watch out for anything important," Harbinger ordered on the comms channel, "Especially if the Empire decides to try something."

" _Of course, Harbinger, nothing will stop the Cycle,_ " Catalyst acknowledged as the channel cut it's link.

He could only agree with Catalyst; even with the Rachni and other ex-outlawed Council races as allies for the UAP, they would not stop the Cycle at all.

They would never stop the Cycle as long as Harbinger lived, because he was leader of the machines. He would make sure the UAP falls before their might and be harvested to continue the Cycle.

No one would stop the Cycle. Ever.

IIOII

The colony of New Halamshiral lay drifting far from the nearest sun, bordered on two sides by two other garden worlds resplendent with their flourishing flora that dotted their surfaces, though there was a heavy presense of the golden-plated Protoss ships on one, while dull grey, utalitarian Terran ships occupied the other, the Korprulu Alliance having laid claim to the neighbouring planets.

A sizeable fleet comprised by the ornately designed yet functional Thedosian ships mainly coloured a shining obsidian black, and the pragmatic avian-like bright orange Turian ships maintained vigilance in space, protecting their newly-established colony from any enemy that dared attempt to breach the blockade made around the mass relay in the system.

New Halamshiral was meant to forge better relations between the Turian Hierarchy and Thedosian Empire; just because the two factions were allies did not mean there were civilians mistrusting of either side, posing a problem to future relations between the two.

When the Hierarchy chose to leave the Council for the Empire, most of the older generation Turians had an active level of mistrust of Thedosians, regarding the horrifying number of casualties they had sustained in their brief but bloody war with the Empire.

What really caused the shift in allegiance was when Thedosian armies had began deported liberated slaves from Batarian territory, some of the Turian ex-slaves even regaling their fellow kinsmen with tales of the bravery and honor of the UAP's soldiers, and of the slaves who were rearmed by their liberators to fight their former masters.

What the ex-slaves lacked in training and experience, they made up for in determination and dedication in the movement to exact bloody revenge on the scum of the galaxy, the scum that forced them from their families, and those who forced the lower-class Batarians to lay down their lives for them with their abysmal charisma.

They were, for lack of a better word, indebted to the UAP, especially the Empire as it spearheaded the campaign against the Hegemony and helped rearm most of the freed slaves, though they were either cautious or simply afraid of the Dragonkin – and by extension the shapeshifting mages and Zerg – given how brutally they killed their enemies, at least by their standards.

Stories of hordes of monstrous creatures charging Batarian ranks whilst their allies pick off elements of sniper teams and leading officers from afar, large, bipedal creatures clad in golden armor cleaving apart their adversaries with huge axes that glowed a crystaline blue with Humans in large power armor gunning them down, the craven and bullying, the wicked and inhuman, all in the span of a few weeks.

Of course, even with the older generation Turians' mistrust of the UAP, given that their pride was injured as the Hierarchy's strength was easily whittled down by their forces in a brief but bloody war, they could not disavow the fact that the Asari simply used the Batarians, Geth, and all the other 'boogeymen' of the galaxy as an excuse to stay on top of the pile, and so an overwhelming majority voted to leave the Council without a second thought, the Turian Councilor himself included.

Right now, one of those younger generation Turians was taking the opportunity to interact with some UAP personnel, in the form of a part-Dragonkin Blademaster in Elfin form, a Terran Ghost operative in a white bodysuit, and a Dwarven warrior in ornate, shining armor.

Said Turian in question was of the rank of Captain of the 26th Armiger Legion by the name of Achamus Posdos, recently promoted through continued service in the Hierarchy's millitary.

Though his introduction was a little shaky at first, given the aloof attitude of the Ghost and the menacing glare the Dragonkin gave him when he got slightly too close to the Ghost, who he assumed was his girlfriend, he managed to get along with them thanks to the help of the Dwarf sitting next to him at the bar counter.

"So what brings ya here to New Halamshiral, Achamus?" The Dwarf warrior asked the Turian as he chugged down a mug of beer.

"Just on shore leave for a few days before I need to report back," Achamus replied as he took another sip of his alcoholic drink, and then lowering his voice to a whisper, "Though I must ask, Bhaledon, how does one fall for a Thedosian?"

The now christened Bhaledon looked at Achamus like he had done the most ridiculous thing ever, thankful that Achamus did not blurt the question out loud.

He lowered the volume of his voice to whisper back, "Are you just asking out of curiosity, or perhaps..."

The suggestive tone of the Dwarf had caused the Turian to become embarassed, though it was hard to tell whether he was blushing or not as his chitinous plates did not turn any shade of red, or any alien equivalent of a flushed skin colour, but he did turn away his head to hide it, giving the Dwarf the answer he needed.

"So it's _that_ kind of situation, eh?" Bhaledon teased in an innocent manner.

"Leave him be, Bhaledon," The part-Dragonkin said dryly in a distinct Japanese accent, as he chugged down what seemed to be his eighteenth glass, shocking the Turian bartender behind the counter as he could only get his order for more brandy, "I find it hard for a first-timer like him to really capture his girl's heart."

Bhaledon only harrumphed and countered, "Look who's talking; a thousand-year old who's never had a single girlfriend his whole life. Until now."

The part-Dragonkin only chugged down his glass promptly upon hearing the retort, his lips curling into a thin line shy of a smile as he relished the strong alcoholic content of his drink, after which he simply asked for a whole bottle.

Bhaledon Hammeriver's ancestry could be traced all the way back to when the Iron Horde had first invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal that originally connected to a ruined world in the twisting nether, wielding technology that was more advanced than what even the Alliance employed.

His ancestor, Balmus Hammeriver and the crew of the ship he was commanding had sacrificed themselves in order to buy the Godwraith time to fire, and for that he was posthumously awarded the Golden Lion badge, the highest honour any Azerothian could ever receive.

"So what are your plans after our date, Kiritsugu?" The Terran Ghost asked monotonely, though she did inch her body closer to her boyfriend.

Slamming down another empty glass, he grimaced as his earlier joyful expression soured into a frown.

"There are yet more Asari protests outside Turian embassies in Asari space, which are only increasing in number with the recent news that the Hierarchy is labouring to create its very first AI," Kiritsugu grumbled, irritated about the Asari response, "So what about you, Nova? Anything Valerian needs you to do afterward?"

"That's _Emperor_ Valerian to you, _boyfriend_ ," Nova narrowed her eyes at the part-Dragonkin, "And it's the usual patrols around the edge of Korprulu space, unless I have a special operation I need to undertake outside of UAP space."

Nova Terra was no ordinary Ghost operative, and she had actively served both the previous and current emperor of the Dominion, all the while carrying a heavy burden as she forgot completely about her past after undergoing a memory psi-wipe.

She could hardly care about her ancestry or whatever social status they carried before she was born, but after the battle with Amon in the Void as all three races of the Korprulu Alliance worked to defeat an ancient enemy, a shockwave containing psionic energy had erupted in a wide radius that everyone present could feel.

At that time, all her memories that were originally erased had come back to haunt her in full force, causing her to suffer an emotional breakdown which resulted in her being quarantined until she had calmed down.

Not only did she remember the awful past she had as a lonely child, she remembered her one-time love, Gabriel Tosh, the then leader of the Specters – next-generation Ghosts – and how he died.

More specifically, he died by her hand.

The commander of the then rebel group known as Raynor's Raiders, Jim Raynor, had chosen to enlist the help of Gabriel's Specters instead of believing her lies about Tosh betraying him, and as a result, he managed to kill him during the Raider's daring skirmish on Korhal when Arcturus was still in power.

When Valerian found out that she had regained her memories, he had offered to remove her painful memories using a psi-wipe, but instead, she chose to retain them and deal with the pain they gave her for the rest of her life.

Her next love was somewhat surprising; few Terrans ever dared to try to even date Thedosian Dragonkin, even though there were plenty of Dragonkin who formed intimate relationships with Humans ans other humanoid species as well.

And it came in the form of the Emperor's older brother.

Kiritsugu himself was supposed to inherit the throne when his father sacrificed himself, but instead he left it to his younger brother, Amarthathor, and became the Supreme Admiral of the Ethereal Armada, the most decorated fleet of the entire Empire due to its service in the Eternal war.

A blademaster by nature, he utilised a katana with deadly speed and graceful fighting finesse against his enemies, with said katana currently strapped to his person by his belt.

He had the distinct snow white hair of his species dropping past his shoulders and his right arm covered in the markings alongside the right side of his face, with pointed ears extending out of his crown of hair that twitched at the body contact being initiated by Nova beside him.

His armour looked extremely similar to that of the ancient Human Samurai, with the exception of several crystals at key points and neon lights on the breastplate, a linen mantle lined with thick brown fur draping down his back.

"But did you just say the Hierarchy is creating an AI?" Nova inquired as she placed a hand around her boyfriend's waist, causing Kiritsugu to adopt a shit-eating grin on his face.

Achamus finished the last sip of ryncol in his glass, and dryly answered, "You heard correctly, Nova, and believe me, the Hierarchy is just about as irritated about the numerous Asari protests and complaints about the whole damn thing."

"Huh, and I thought you Turian soldiers had a protocol to follow, Acahmus," Bhaledon commented as he ordered another refill of beer.

"And after our brief war with the UAP, I can definitely say that High Command should print hardcopies of every military protocol and wipe their asses with them," Achamus retorted, gulping down his glass of ryncol, not noticing the look of surprise elicted from the stout dwarf.

As Achamus and Bhaledon continued their conversation, Kiritsugu tuned out the two, focusing on his drinking spree as he finished the bottle in his hand.

Visibly surprised by the amount of alcohol he consumed, Nova could not help but clap for him – only loud enough for Kiritsugu to hear – whilst flashing an attractive smile that always managed to lighten the part-Dragonkin's mood whenever it was soured.

Unfortunately, it was cut short, as an alarm began to ring throughout the entire colony, followed by Kiritsugu's omni-tool alerting him of a transmission.

A pitch-black glow became visible on his right arm, the holographic device showing the face of a Turian with blue facial markings in black, form-fitting armor bearing a serious expression.

"This had better be important, Garrus," Kiritsugu said in an annoyed tone.

" _It is, I'm afraid,_ " Garrus confirmed, " _A Collector attack force is currently engaging the colony's defense fleet in space, and the bordering colonies as well._ "

Kiritsugu's mood immediately sobered as he asked, "How strong?"

" _Enough to at least keep the fleets distracted for a while,_ " Garrus reported, hefting a rifle in hand.

Kiritsugu sighed in utter irritation as he slammed down his last glass of brandy, before paying the bartender a small sack of gold coins on the counter, even though he was more concerned for his life at that moment.

"Why, of all times, did an attack have to happen now?" Nova groaned as she unslung her long rifle from her back, "Just when it was about to get to the good part..."

Before she could say anything further, she was brought out of her thoughts by a deep, yet brief kiss on her lips, Kiritsugu holding her hair with a gauntleted hand.

Pulling his lips away reluctantly, he then told Nova with a gentle, affectionate smile, "We can continue after we teach the Collectors a lesson, alright?"

The silky, husky voice in which he told Nova was more than enough to make her kiss him back, though it was only a chaste kiss given the urgency of the situation; Kiritsugu had to summon all of his restraint in order to quell the lustful beast within him, not willing to get to that stage too fast without Nova's consent.

Letting out a low growl that conveyed his raging lust threatening to burst, he quickly ran out of the establishment to command the defending troops of the colony, Achamus and Bhaledon following close behind.

 _No time like the present,_ Nova mused to herself as she cocked the rifle, _Just like old times._

IIOII

All across space, UAP ships engaged in space battles with the Collector ships pouring out of the mass relay like a rampaging swarm of locusts, bright streaks of crystaline blue and emerald green clashing against lances of golden amber as the defense fleets valiantly made their stand against the invasion force.

Tiny projectiles of sapphire blue slugs flew forth from the Turian ships in limitless volleys, the Turians unwilling to let the UAP forces steal the spotlight all for themselves as they began forming a blockade around the colony of New Halamshiral, unleashing swarms of small Destroyer fighters against the corkscrew-shaped enemy ships.

As more enemy ships began emerging from the relay, a few Thedosian ships began initiating micro-portal jumps to emerge within Collector ranks, flashes of azure blue blanketing the cold, empty void.

Some diverted full power to their thrusters, moving too fast for the Collectors to avoid a collision course as Thedosian ships rammed hard and fast into Collector ships, their thin armor standing no chance against emeril frontal armor. Others let loose broadsides of armored missiles that unleashed powerful by-product blasts upon destruction, bypassing kinetic barriers and melting sections of hull plating.

The battle was largely in favor of the UAP, mainly given their technological advantage, as over a dozen ships had already fallen under the relentless barrage of energy beams and metal projectiles.

It was not without loss, however, as a few Turian ships were already destroyed by the amber beams that ripped through their armor like a knife cutting melting butter, focused fire eventually overloading the new golden yellow shielding of the avian-like ships.

And though many Collector ships lay adrift in space, their hollow carcasses bearing huge holes or red glowing slashes where large pieces of hull plating had been gouged out, some had managed to get close enough to launch shuttles towards the planet's surface, tiny dots of metal starting to suffer heavy burns as they broke through the planet's atmosphere.

As they neared the desginated landing area, several streaks of lightning and emerald green began crossing the skies, obliterating many shuttles trying to land just outside of the walled city where a veritable army was already garrisoning it's walls.

Those that managed to land were already unloading thousands of troops that began charging the walls, uncaring of their own lives; all that mattered was following the master's orders and killing any who opposed the machnes' return to the galaxy.

The night sky lit up brightly as the fleets clashed in a space battle of large proportions, many of the explosions lighting up more brightly than the stars themselves.

Behind the walls, scores of Thedosian archers wielding bows began lining up at or below the ramparts as Turians began manning turrets or cocking Exso rifles, slugs of sapphire blue showering their enemies as they covered for their allies while they prepared.

Other Thedosians wielding rifles – much like their Turian counterparts – also joined the fray and began peppering the enemy with beams of light being fired from their guns, whilst large artillery pieces continued shooting shuttles out of the sky, thinning the herd of enemies to mow down.

Kiritsugu stood atop the ramparts and eyed the approaching horde with a scornful gaze; he would teach these genocidal slaves a harsh lesson in what happens when they cross the Empire or any of its allies, and he would slaughter them to the last being.

Raising his katana, he shouted at the top of his voice to his troops, "READY YOUR BOWS!"

Immediately, with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, all Thedosian archers on the ramparts drew their bowstrings on his command, golden yellow arrow shafts materialising in their hands.

"RELEASE ARROWS!" Kiritsugu commanded, waving his katana at the approaching Collector horde.

At once, the archers fired, a hail of energy arrows raining down on the encroaching horde like an endless shower of raindrops, killing many before they could get close to the walls.

Achamus watched the display of arrows with awe and wonder, whilst still firing at the horde without concern for his supply of ammunition, killing a good score of Collectors in the process.

It was, admittedly, his first battle with Thedosians on his side, and already he could see the fruits of their training being reaped to their fullest, each arrow finding their mark, never missing, never failing to kill an enemy with well-placed aim.

Suddenly, he could hear rumbling in the sky, as dark clouds suddenly began to gather and block out the stars, sparks of electricity becoming visible in the skies. Without warning, they slammed down on the approaching Collector forces, many of them electrocuted to death by the high amounts of electricity coursing through their very veins.

Kiritsugu himself only observed the battle, Bhaledon doing the same as he twirled his hammer in grim anticipation, his beard sticking out of his airtight helmet.

Nova herself refused to be outdone by any of the Thedosian archers, firing bullets with a lethal aim that would put many snipers of similar caliber to shame. Every spent shell that was ejected clattered to the floor, the sound barely audible over the cacaphony of gunfire raging throughout the day.

Whistling as she saw the large arcs of lightning do much damage to the enemy ranks, she commented as she ejected another spent shell, "That is definitely some supernatural stuff."

"That was only one of many reasons why the UAP won the wars with the mercenaries and Batarians, lassie," Bhaledon added.

Soon, Kiritsugu faced the lines of archers waiting below the ramparts, barking in a piercing voice, "FULL VOLLEY!"

And after waving his katana towards the Collectors once more, the archers joined their commrades on the walls by adding to the hail of arrows being fired, slaughtering so many of the hated monstrosities that their bodies began littering the landscape like a swarm of rabbits that died due to some unknown pestilence that plagued them.

Yet even as the horde became thinner and thinner, some still managed to get close enough to the walls and fire their weapons, golden amber beams piercing through flesh as Turian corpses began to fall from the ramparts.

As if it was not enough, some of the surviving enemy shuttles began deploying what looked like metal discs that increased in size, the defenders realising that they were actually stairs leading up the wall.

Within minutes, Kiritsugu barked the command for some of the archers to draw their swords, cleaving a Collector in half as it tried to shoot him at point blank range.

Bhaledon also smashed the head of another with his hammer, expertly wielding his weapon with the precision of a master warrior.

The Turian troops on the ramparts also began slashing at their enemies with their omni-blades, hot plasma burning through flesh and bone as the smell of burnt flesh mingled with the air.

Loud buzzing could soon be heard as the defenders fought for their lives, becoming more and more audible by the second. Looking out onto the horizon, they could see swarms of what looked like tiny insects approach their position from within the Collector ranks.

No one knew what their exact purpose was, but one thing was for sure; if the Collectors unleashed them, they would not want them anywhere near the city.

"Incoming!" Kiritsugu barked as he breathed fire on the swarm of insects nearing his position, burning them until they were nothing more than charred corpses before they could even come close towards him.

But before the insects could start wreaking havoc among the troops, they were intercepted by what appeared to be an iridiscent barrier surrounding the ranks of defenders fervently firing on the Collectors.

Fight the wicked, slay the craven, protect the weakened; that was the ethos of the Empire since the day it was founded, never changing in the slightest despite all the wars it had fought during its existense.

They would not back down from an unprovked invasion such as this one, and they would not spare any craven, genocidal fanatics that believed themselves gods of the universe, able to dictate the fate of the younger races just because they said so.

They would fight, and they would triumph.

"Hold fast, men!" Kiritsugu rallied the defenders as gouts of fire spat forth from his mouth, "Do not allow the Collectors any more ground than they already have seized!"

"You heard the admiral, men!" An Elf shouted, "For the Empire!"

Ragged warcries were roared by the Thedosian soldiers as they renewed their defense against the invading Collector forces, the Turians retaliating with equal measure alongside their allies.

Bhaledon crushed and mauled any Collectors that tried to swarm both his and Achamus' position, allowing the Turian to focus his fire on those still too far for the Dwarven warrior to kill.

With the aid of the magi present defending the colony with magically-erected barriers and storms of lightning and fire battering the thinned hordes, victory was near, and the Dragonkin admiral could taste it in the air.

" _Admiral Kiritsugu, come in!_ " A frantic voice, Turian in nature, suddenly blared in the Dragonkin's ear, making him wince at the volume of the warning.

"What is it now!?" He growled, settling for talking through his omni-tool since he removed his communicator out of irritation, "Can't you see that I am fighting a war right now!?"

" _Sorry for the sudden warning, but we're detecting a very wierd energy signature at your very location right now!_ " the Turian shouted over the comms channel, a cacophony of war defeaning his voice on his side.

Surely enough, Kirirtsugu could detect a huge spatial distortion in the time continuum itself, a large sphere of electrical lightning growing in size and power right behind him.

Unfortunately, it was very close to Nova at that moment, who had also detected the fluctuating power in the distortion through her psionic powers; unlike most Thedosian magi, she could not effectively use her psionics to instantaeneously teleport from one location to another, putting her in effective danger.

Had she had enough time, she would have been able to at least escape the radius of the impending blast of energy, but as it was, the sphere of lightning was about to explode at any minute.

Without sparing a second thought, he fadestepped and pushed Nova away from the sphere of lightning in the nick of time, just before it exploded, sending a shockwave of raw mana throughout the colony that thankfully killed all of the insect swarms in the blink of an eye without harming any of the defenders somehow.

A huge cloud of dust formed in the explosion's wake, obstructing many of the defenders' vision as they quickly refocused on their enemies threatening to overrun the ramparts, forcing Bhaledon and Achamus to pull back from their position to Kiritsugu's.

A wave of Kiritsugu's hand created a wind spell that dispersed the dust, revealing a Human man as tall as he was.

Tall would be an understatement; he was a giant of a man, clad in crimson armor that was extremely bulky and undoubtedly heavy – much like a standard Terran marine's armor – except that he was wearing no helmet with a domed polarised visor of any sort, with a large golden skull bearing wings emblazoned on the breastplate.

A large cape, the same colour as his armor with golden trimming, draped down past his golden-encrusted massive pauldrons that bore the same golden-winged skull as his breastplate, bearing the insginia of a black raven with a blood drop adorning its back.

The Human man himself looked to be rather old, his face bearing several lines and wrinkles, his crew cut hair turned white with strands of grey matting it. His right eye seemed to have been blinded at some point, a balefully glowing cybernetic eye replacing where his right eye used to be.

In his hands was a large hammer that looked ridiculously ornate in Kiritsugu's eyes, the golden-plated head adorned with the golden-winged skull on two sides, but at the same time emitted sparks of electricity that danced like butterflies on a flower.

Without the armor and large battlehammer, he would have passed off as a rather strong man for his age, fit and able to work despite his age. However, the Dragonkin admiral could see that he was a warrior – one who has seen many years of bloodshed and violence.

As he stood up, he looked visibly lost, unsure of where he was currently at as he scanned his surroundings with a cautious eye.

When he laid eyes on Kiritsugu, he looked visibly angry – just because of his appearance, most likely – and almost began to swing his hammer at the admiral himself, prompting Kiritsugu to motion for Nova to stay behind him.

"For the Emperor!" He roared, almost making the Dragonkin draw his sword on instinct to kill him.

The Dragonkin's suspicions were somewhat misplaced, as the hammer smashed the head of a Collector into gory paste, splattering it on both him and the unknown warrior before him.

As he slung his hammer over his shoulder, he said in a rather disdainful tone, "I do not know where I am, Eldar, but for now we fight these abominations as allies."

From his manner of expression, he looked terribly reluctant to even fight alongside him; he had probably fought Elves as bitter enemies before, but he was not so foolish as to uselessly throw away his life and make more enemies when there was a common enemy to fight.

Kiritsugu loosed an arrow towards the human, making him tense as it struck another Collector that was about to kill him from behind.

Facing their enemies back to back, Kiritsugu could not help but smile wryly as he reslung his bow over his torso and drew his katana, assuming an offensive stance as his counterpart did the same.

"I do not know where you come from, and whatever enemies you have fought, stranger, but I believe we should focus on slaughtering the enemies before us, rather than try to slay each other, should we not?" He said, bearing his fangs in anticipation.

"Of that, I can agree with you on," The human said as he swung his hammer in a wide arc, smashing his enemies with a righteous fury similar to that of a Thedosian warrior.

"By the way, my name is Kiritsugu Sardothien, Supreme Admiral of the Ethereal Armada of the Thedosian Empire," The Dragonkin introduced himself, earning a scoff from the giant Human, "What is yours?"

He remained disdainful of Kiritsugu, but nonetheless answered, "I am Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos, of the Blood Ravens Chapter, of the Space Marines that serve the Imperium of Man."

Kiritsugu's smile only grew as he sliced off the head of another Collector, saying, "Yet another seperate Human faction? Why am I not so surprised? And what is with calling me an Eldar?"

"You have the physical characteristics of an Eldar, Kiritsugu," Gabriel spat, "Yet you act as if you are unfamiliar with the name of your species."

"What do you mean, Eldar?" Kiritsugu inquired, "I am three-quarters Elven, for Sossedov's sake!"

" _Elven?_ " Gabriel repeated the word as if it was foreign on his tongue, "All the Eldar I have met and fought have never called themselves by such a name."

"Neither have I ever heard of this Imperium of Man, laddie," Bhaledon countered, chiming in with Kiritsugu as he spilled the entrails of yet another Collector, "But ya got the makings of a warrior, I can say that much!"

"As if this day could get any better!" Achamus commented, expertly placing a shot that shredded a Collector's head.

Hacking and slicing, smashing and crushing, the duo took all their frustrations out on the enemies before them, Kiritsugu being terribly fed up with the Collectors for interrupting such a romantic date with his woman, Gabriel being angry about landing in alien, foreign territory.

The former was focused anger and discipline, hacking away at his foes with the promise of an utterly painful death, the latter barely restrained fury that threatened to boil over, vowing to smite the abominations in the name of his supreme god.

There seemed to be no end to the abominations charging their position, the defenders feeling like a whole eternity had passed since the invasion had begun, when in reality the sun was just beginning to rise in the distance, the pitch back sky turning a golden auburn.

As the golden sunlight bathed the planet's surface and illuminated the battlefield, the huge number of corpses could be seen by any who were on the ramparts, rivers of blood flowing through the battlefield, painting the land blood red.

Just then, one of the Collectors began illuminating in a bright light, a deep, synthetic voice emitting from it.

"Assuming control."

The Collector's body was still illuminating in such a bright colour, his sudden transformation attracting the attention of Kiritsugu and the others while the rest of the troops were still fighting.

It then rumbled arrogantly, "Dragonkin. You and the Empire, and the rest of your allies will fail, as the Protheans have. You cannot stop the Cycle."

As the Protheans have? That would mean...

In a moment's notice, Gabriel took out what looked like a pistol and fired three shots into the transformed Collector, its body disintegrating upon death into a pile of inanimate ashes.

Following the death of the transformed Collector, bright lances of emerald green shot forth from the sky, incinerating many a Collector until nothing, not even ash, was left of them.

This meant only one thing.

The defense fleet was victorious; they had driven the enemy back.

The defenders let out a jubiliant roar as the last of the enemy fell, Kiritsugu only sighing as the adrenaline of battle left his body.

Gabriel was about to talk to the Dragonkin, when Nova ran up to Kiritsugu and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush furiously as his ears twitched in embarassment.

The Blood Raven's blood ran cold; xenos and alien races were the enemies of humanity, and a union between a xeno and a Human was the last thing the Imperium would ever tolerate.

Yet, this Eldar – who insisted that he was part-Elven, the name unfamiliar to him – was uncharacteristically flushing in embarassment when that Human woman kissed him, and since Space Marines were forbidden from forming... intimate relationships, Gabriel could not understand why this Eldar-no, Elf, had fallen for a Human.

He had to focus; now was not the time to dwadle on his own thoughts, now was the time to familiarise himself with this unknown place, at least until he was found by his fellow brothers or some Imperial Guardsmen.

"Now that the abominations have been driven back-" Gabriel began.

"Collectors," Kiritsugu corrected, "Those abominations we fought are known as the Collectors."

"As I was saying," Gabriel continued, "Now that the Collectors have been driven back, I wish to know where I am."

Kiritsugu sighed heavily, and after asking Nova to wait at the inner city districts, he then said, "We'd best do this at the command centre; I have to oversee several new reports that have just been sent to me."

"Fine with me," Gabriel said as he slung his hammer over his back.

IIOII

Gabriel Angelos was feeling terribly disgusted as of now.

To be surrounded by Xenos and heretical Humans in an alien galaxy was the worst possible thing that could ever happen to an honorable Adeptus Astartes, even more so for a Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens, who had dedicated his entire life to purging the galaxy of the God Emperor's foes.

From what the Dragonkin admiral had told him, he was currently on a newly-established colony that was jointly organised between this Thedosian Empire – which was allied with several other factions – and the Turian Hierarchy, in a bid to establish better relations between the two sides; avian aliens coexisting with Humans, Eldar and other humanoid species, it was unfathomable to anyone living as an Imperial citizen or the Imeprium's foes.

And Kiritsugu was a living example of a Xenomix, an offspring of two different races mating together.

But he was part Dragon, not because of his unit type, but a literal Dragon, something thought mythical, impossible to even exist, and the Dragonkin before him proved him wrong.

There was certainly one time he had to ally with an Eldar farseer by the name of Taldeer, but that was purely out of mutual benefit to prevent Chaos forces from securing an incredibly powerful artefact that would spell the end of the Imperium.

"So these Collectors have been trying to abduct Human colonists from this Systems Alliance?" Gabriel inquired, disgusted by the loud noises he was hearing.

"That was what happened, right before the UAP had even encountered the Citadel Council," The Dragonkin admiral confirmed, uncaring about his table manner as he slurped loudly on his noodles, finishing his thrid bowl as he stacked it on top of the empty ones beside him, "But for them to so brazenly attack us and with so much force, I think that invasion force was meant to test our capabilities."

And it was not just the Empire's capabilities they were testing, the Terrans and Protoss were also beseiged by the same Collectors that attacked New Halamshiral, though they were predictably driven back by the defense forces stationed at the neighbouring colonies.

Just then, Gabriel heard a ringing sound, which was followed by a black glow appearing on Kiritsugu's right arm.

"This is Admiral Kiritsugu speaking," He answered into the black glowing device on his arm.

" _Admiral, the SSV Normandy has arrived at the colony,_ " A male Dwarf reported, " _Commander Shepard will soon make her way to the Spaceport, where one of the personnel will attend to her shortly._ "

"Tell her that there will be a slight change in the number of charges assigned to her," Kiritsugu said, "There will be an urgent need to shore up our defenses now that the leaders have received news of this attack."

" _Understood admiral,_ " The Dwarf saluted before cutting the connection, allowing Kiritsugu's attention to return to the now curious Space Marine before him.

"Chapter Master Angelos," Kiritsugu addressed him, "Ever considered taking the fight to the Collectors themselves?"

IIOII

The Spaceport was brimming with activity since the attack. Fresh troops were being offloaded from transport ships to replenish the casualties – both Thedosian and Turian – sustained in the defense of the colony, and dozens of crates carrying all sorts of supplies were being carried by dockhands to unload their contents elsewhere.

As the _Normandy_ docked at it's designated docking space, the magical fields securing the ship in place, a slender figure stepped out of the ship, wearing a black and white skin-tight suit with a golden hexagonal symbol emblazoned on the right shoulder sleeve.

Shepard was rather anxious to fight the Collectors and take out their base of operations, but the engineer in Shepard was drooling at the design of the spaceport's interior.

The walls looked incredibly sturdy, as if defying any natural disaster that threatened to shake it's foundations. At multiple sections, floating crystals served both an aesthetic yet functional purpose, providing ample light yet adding a hint of elegance to the place.

The massive ships docking at the spaceport measured up to a kilometre long, but when they docked, the same magical fields that held the Normandy in place also did the same to the other ships, making them literally float in mid-air which allowed engineers and technicians to investigate every last aspect of the ships, leaving no stone unturned in their tireless maintainance.

Although the Turian ships were still of the same design when she last saw them, they were certainly bigger in size and plated with thicker armor, and bore new types of arnaments that Shepard did not see before.

One of the personnel on station, a Quinari man went up to her and asked, "Are you commander Shepard?"

"I am," She answered.

"Admiral Kiritsugu is waiting for you at the Command centre," The Quinari stated in his deep voice, "He requests that you be punctual in your arrival."

Although Shepard believed that she had time to spare, she felt it better to quickly get her new teammates before she did anything else.

"Lead the way," She said.

As she walked along the brightly-lit corridors, she took occasional glances at the different facilities of the place, finding the odd bit of Turian architecture mixing with the elegant Thedosian designing.

As she passed one of their traning facilities, she saw whole lines of Thedosian soldiers shouting as they swung their blades with fervor, their bare chests sweating heavily under the intensity of their training.

Undertsandably, the Turians she saw never practiced with a real blade, only their omni-blades since they were something none of them were really familiar with yet.

Soon, they reached a set of ornate, sturdy doors, gold engravings glowing an eerie cerulean blue. As they parted, the Qunari politely asked Shepard to step inside and wait for Kiritsugu to bring her assigned charges.

The command centre itself was rather spacious, a large circular table occupying the centre of the room with a round metallic device bearing steel grey lights adorning the centre of it.

In one seat at the far end was a white-haired Dragonkin, whom Shepard assumed was Admiral Kiritsugu, in formal military dress code with a black linen sash across his torso, his right breast adorned with several medals of honor.

"Commander Shepard, I presume?" The Admiral asked.

"And you must be Admiral Kiritsugu," Shepard mused as the doors closed behind her, "So where are my assigned charges?"

"Everyone else that is present," Kiritsugu said, pointing his hand to those filling up all but one seat, presumably for her.

There were two Turians present, one of them being Garrus himself as identified by the blue markings on his mandibles. Garrus himself wore polished black, form-fitting armor with a Turian script adorning his breastplate, the pauldrons shaped like the heads of roaring dragons with turquoise glowing eyes, while the other was in standard silver armor that looked similar in design to the old Turian suits of armor, the exception being a new crystal of Exso implanted in the centre of the chest.

"My name is Captain Achamus Posdos, of the 26th Armiger Legion of the Turian Hierarchy," the other Turian introduced himself.

Shepard swore that Garrus' armor was purposefully looking at her.

After waving hello to Garrus, who waved back at her – the Admiral not minding it one bit, she could also see Tali in a rather exotic exosuit with pieces of armor affixed to her vital points.

As it was the first time Shepard saw Tali without her polarized visor on, she initially did not recognise her, until Tali joyfully called out her name from her seat.

"Shepard!"

It was more than enough for Shepard to recognise her by her voice.

"Tali?"

After a brief reunion hug between the two, irking someone present in the process, they both sat back down on their seats.

Present along with the others was a Krogan in armor who looked awfully similar to Wrex, a large hammer on his back, a Blood Elf in leather armor with a staff strapped to his back, ebony hair draped past his shoulders, and an Orc – if Shepard remembered correctly – in rough leather armor bearing Orcish runes, a white bear pelt draped on top of his head across his back.

"I am Arkail, recently promoted Adept of the 2nd Beserker Corps of the Empire, at your service," The Orc introduced himself.

"I am Urdnot Grunt," The Krogan grunted, "Firstborn of High Chancellor Wrex and self-made Battlemaster."

"Didn't expect Wrex to have a son of his own," Shepard commented.

"And I am Welearis Embergaze," The Blood Elf politely bowed, "At your service."

After them were three Protoss; a Tal'darim Blood Hunter in black armor, who flexed his clawed fingers in anticipation, a Khalai Zealot with a golden shaft attached to his golden armor, and a Nerazim Centurion, the dark purple shroud over where an orofice would be draping down over his steel grey armor.

{I am Praetor Thrakos, of Aiur,} The Khalai Zealot stated, nodding curtly at Shepard. {The Nerazim Centurion and... Tal'darim Blood Hunter, are Taedarix and Telrisis respectively.}

She could notice the palpable tension between the Nerazim and Khalai, and the Tal'darim; just because they were allied did not mean they were willing to easily forget the years of bloodshed.

Next was a Terran Ghost in a white bodysuit, her golden blonde hair tied in a long ponytail.

"I'm Nova Terra, Senior Ghost operative of the Terran Dominion," She said, remaining rather aloof to most of those present, though she did wink seductively at the Admiral himself, making him mometarily smirk in response.

Afterwards was a female Dragonkin in Human form, wearing thin black armor over her body, and a female Pandaren in a black outfit with her long ebony hair tied in a long ponytail.

"I am Baozhai, agent of the Shado-pan," The Pandaren introduced herself, "This is Venia Sardothien, ranged combat specialist of the 8th Warhammer Division."

Venia only smiled with no humor at Shepard, the chilling aura she radiated sending shivers down Shepard's spine.

Finally, there were two other Humans present; a giant of a man in blood red armor emblazoned with a golden-winged skull, and another – who was not a giant – in golden plated armor seated next to him.

"I am Aldrige, personal bodyguard of Emperor Amarthathor himself," The Golden-armored man stated.

"And I am Chapter Master Gabriel Angelos, of the Space Marines Blood Ravens Chapter serving the Imperium of Man," The giant of a man said, nearly catching Shepard off-guard.

If she could recall correctly, there was that one time where she played a century-old game called Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War, where Gabriel Angelos was the main character. For him to literally exist in flesh and blood...

She decided against telling him the truth, lest she be reprimanded by the man himself for uttering what may well be an insult to him.

As for Aldrige, she could not help but feel that he resembled someone she used to know.

Someone dear and precious to her.

Someone she had lost to the Batarian slavers.

She fought to keep her emotions from swelling within her, schooling her expression into a neutral one as Kiritsugu began to brief all of them.

"Due to an attack on our soil by the Collectors-" Kiritsugu began, but was cut off.

"Wait, did you say the Collectors attacked you?" Shepard asked in disbelief, unsure of the sudden turn of events.

Sighing heavily, the Dragonkin answered, "Yes, they attacked us last night, and the bordering colonies as well."

Activating the round device with a wave of his omni-tool, it displayed three planets – all of them garden worlds – with swathes of red dots appearing near them and the blue dots that were near the planets.

"This happened at 11.03PM standard time, and the force present was not meant to siege us, given the numbers," Kiritsugu explained, then theorised, "I believe it was to test our capabilities instead, after finding about our overwhelming victory over the Council."

{My people have valiantly fought off the Collectors, partly in thanks to our superior technology, as have the Dominion's forces,} Thrakos added, {However, we must be cautious of our old enemies as well.}

"Indeed," Welearis said, "We cannot disregard the possibility of the Burning Legion seizing this opportunity to weaken our people once more."

"But what about the Ethereals?" Tali pointed out, "We can't ignore them either; they have several slave races at their disposal to wage their wars for them."

"Which is why we must eliminate the Collectors here and now," Kiritsugu stated, all eyes turning to him, "We cannot afford to waste too much time on dealing with the Collectors as of now. If we are to be amply prepared for the impending invasion, we must take out the Collectors' base of operations quickly and swiftly, and slaughter them to the last."

"But we cannot deploy an assault fleet so hastily, brother," Venia countered, "And we must assume that the Collectors and Heretic Geth are on high alert, given how easily we defeated the Batarians and bested the Turians."

It was no secret that the Geth had split into two factions when an unknown AI named Nazara, most likely a Reaper, made contact with them. The Asari response was that they did not care one single bit; all were the same, no matter their creators, but the Empire and Purifiers – a faction of Protoss AI – were sympathetic to the loyalist Geth about the betrayal.

"Which is why we will deploy a strike force comprised of a joint UAP force to aid Shepard in her endeavours, and I will be leading it," A baritone voice boomed from behind Shepard, genuinely surprising her when she found out who it belonged to.

"Amarthathor?" She gasped.

 **A/N: So I have put Gabriel Angelos from Warhammer 40k inside, because I want to show the Collectors the meaning of fighting an Adeptus Astartes.**

 **One thing to tell you guys is that if you have not noticed, I have created a new account on Wattpad, my username is the same as here on Fanfiction, and I have created a link to my account page so you can read a story I posted there.**

 **Hopefully I will see you there.**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	9. Lending crucial aid

**A/N: Not much to say, other than hoping for your continued support!**

 **Anyway, enjoy reading!**

 **And may the Empire carve the way to the future!**

 **Chapter eight: Lending crucial aid**

No one was expecting this in the slightest. For the others, it was something new to them, the Emperor leaving the comforts of his own territory to accompany Shepard on what may well be a suicidal mission that would put his life at risk. For the Emperor's family and those of the Empire, it was no surprise to them.

Before Amarthathor took up the reigns of government, his uncle and regent, Daniel Cousland, always took him outside of the Imperial Palace to enjoy the sights and smells of the outside universe whenever he was not studying under his tutelage or training in the arts of warfare.

From the expansive fields of agricultural worlds of the farmers who tirelessly work to feed the Empire's citizens, to the great forges of the blacksmiths that constantly churned out new weapons for the soldiers to wield, he never tired of exploring the other core worlds and fringe worlds under the Empire's control, exploring the lives of the common people.

Even after becoming Emperor, and being hopelessly chained to his desk in order to finish mountains upon mountains of paperwork – which caused many a migrane for the part-Dragonkin – and having to sit on his throne to oversee many meetings with the Council of Mornarchs, he still took time to sneak out of the palace and explore the world outside the confines of the palace, even if only for brief, fleeting moments.

His current being in New Halamshiral's command centre and sudden decleration of accompanying the famed Human Spectre was no different to those times.

"W-Wait, what about all of the political backlash and other stuff you have to deal with? Wouldn't you need to represent the Empire at such crucial times?" Shepard asked in disbelief, not believing her ears.

Sighing heavily, as if expecting such a reaction from her and the others, he then stated, "My cousin-in-law, Erlan Hequinal, will be looking after the Empire in my place, so there is no cause for worry."

Venia only snorted at that, while Kiritsugu chuckled mainly to himself.

Harrumphing loudly, then filling a cup with freshly brewed tea, he then said, "Like I just said, I will be commanding a new ship to aid Commander Shepard, and it will be the first major coalition force between all UAP races and factions, including the Zerg."

Tapping a few commands into his omni-tool after setting down his tea cup on the table, he brought up the image of a ship that was slightly longer than five kilometres, the prow 's armor designed like a dragon's head with its mouth closed. Along the broadsides of the ship were several turrets fitted with crystal pylons floating in place and long-barreled cannons, the back of the ship bearing four large thrusters.

"It is called the _Vengeful Sword_ , one of the newest Fathership-class battlecruisers made with a mixture of Protoss, Thedosian and Azerothian technology," The Emperor explained, taking his cup and sipping his tea, "Outfitted with the latest stealth cloaks and heat sinks, it shall serve as a silent fortress that will cut off the heads of our enemies where they least expect it."

Stealth cloaks were something the Council and ex-Council races still struggled to understand, as most stealth ships were made using only heat sinks to mask heat emissions from ships since they were only detected by thermal scanners at that time.

Once again, the arrival of the UAP changed all of that.

Utilising ships that literally made themselves invisible by cloaking fields, they were never detected by thermal scanners as they delivered their payloads of troops and armored vehicles on fortified colonies and outposts, whilst detecting any STG stealth ship that tried to carry out reconnaissance on them with visual scanners.

This reminded Gabriel Angelos of the times when he fought the Eldar in space battles. As their ships were more fragile and relied on agility and speed to tackle their stronger enemies, they also used stealth cloaks to ambush their enemies where they least expected, their plasma turrets taking care of the rest.

Not only were their ships fragile, but they were also few in numbers, so they stood no chance in an all-out space battle where stealth was no option.

The ships these 'Elves' made alongside the other races was no doubt elegant in design, but were also large, floating citadels that could withstand much damage sustained from enemy ships.

The Blood Elves of the Azerothian Coalition were an exception, as their ships were also fragile and delicate, albeit larger than their Eldar counterparts.

"So where will you suggest we strike first, brother?" Venia asked, raising a hand.

"It will be at the former Quarian colony of Haestrom," A synthetic voice informed them, pixels of blue light materialising in front of them on the table's holographic projector to form a Dark Elven avatar in front of them, who turned out to be Taenith in his customary thin armor.

Gabriel had to reign in his anger; abominable intellegences were hated by all sides, Imperium and Eldar included, as they were machines that turned on their masters without a second thought.

Yet these maddened United Allied Powers actually used them without worry, and the Turians who originally hated them were following in their former enemies' footsteps and doing the same thing.

The image being displayed changed once again to that of a barren planet, patches of stone grey barely visible under the beige colour of the planet's surface.

"The Quarian Republic has recently dispatched a reclaimation team to try and amend the dying star's radiation with the help of a few of our magi, but all contact was lost with them a few days ago, the last report mentioning a Geth attack force approaching their position," The AI continued, waving his hand to show images of a few Geth ships appearing near the planet.

"It might be the Heretic geth," Tali suggested, remembering the details about the Geth schism, "Their ship design hasn't changed in the slightest compared to those of the Geth Consensus."

She was right, the angular and curved design of the Geth ships looked exactly the same as Geth ships from before the Ethereal assault on the Quarian Migrant Fleet, while the Geth Consensus' ships were slightly bulkier and had their thrusters arranged in a cross shape at the back.

"The Heretics have never made such a daring attack before, as they were still biding their time beyond the Perseus Veil," Taenith mentioned, his strings of code flashing as he went into deep thought, "They must have something on Haestrom that they do not want anyone to find out about."

"So the Heretics are making their move now..." Welearis mused, his glowing emerald eyes narrowing, "It seems that we cannot lie in wait any longer."

{My blade thirsts for the blood of my enemies,} Telrisis eagerly said, his scythe glowing a baleful red, {What are we waiting for?}

"Consider this Dragonkin equally invested," Venia added, a sadistic smirk adorning her face.

Shepard looked at each and every one of them present, and could see the determination in their eyes with a hint of pride and admiration swelling within her. Even in her time as an Alliance N7 Marine before becoming a Spectre, not many in the Systems Alliance shared the same conviction and devotion to their duty as soldiers.

Looking all of them in the eye, she then said with equal conviction, "I'm no expert on any of your fighting capabilities, Tali, Grunt and the Turians being the exception, but I will say this much."

Her face became deathly serious, but at the same time brimming with anticipation underneath as she then said, "We aren't bound by tradition or anger to fight the Collectors and Heretic geth, nor are we doing so simply because our superiors order us to; we are doing this to protect our right to live, fighting for our families, for our homes, most importantly we're fighting for our children to see another day, a day where their parents can proudly boast that they shed blood to protect their future."

"From here onwards, we are not Thedosians, Protoss, Terrans, or even Quarians and Turians. Today, we are soldiers called upon to fight our enemies, defenders of our lands, our species, our friends and families, protectors of the multitude of worlds we call our home galaxy."

The steely resolve and fiery determination in her words brought smiles to all those present, their hearts swelling with pride and conviction.

Infectious laughter erupted from Amarthathor himself, his eyes almost tearing up in the process. Soon, Grunt joined the Emperor and laughed as well, prompting all the others present to do the same, except the Turians, Gabriel Angelos, Tali and Shepard who just stared at them in confusion.

Even the normally aloof Nova Terra laughed alongside her Azerothian and Thedosian counterparts, surprising many of them, Kiritsugu included, though that simply made him laugh harder and louder than the others.

Gabriel had to respect this Shepard; she had a passion few in the Imperium ever possessed, compared to the Space Marines that hardly caused insurrection among their own ranks, though he was genuinely confused at the reaction of the others who were laughing.

Most of the Imperial Guardsmen would cave under the tremendous pressure one would suffer when fighting the horrors of the galaxy. The vile abominations of the Chaos forces that threatened to contaminate the light of the astronomican with their warpstone, hordes of murderous Orks that slaughtered anything in their sight without a second thought, the swarms of Tyranids that caused many a stronghold to capitulate, most would break after their first or second battle.

Yet, it was as if she would never fear of any unexpected horrors that came her way; either she had fought such abominations before, or she had yet to see just what the galaxy could throw at her.

Amarthathor was the first to speak after calming himself, a wide smile visible on his face, "Excellent! Excellent! Few of the Humans in the Systems Alliance carry your steely will, Shepard, and for that I commend you!"

Following him was Urdnot Grunt, who unslung his hammer in anticipation, "Ha! I must agree with the Emperor wholeheartedly!"

Arkail then added, "When shall we march against our enemies, Shepard?"

Remembering Amarthathor's words, she had an innate urge to correct him; it was not she that possessed a unique resolve and determination, but rather the Thedosians, Azerothians and other allies the Empire currently had, a stark difference in comparison to the Citadel Council of old.

"Then shall we march, Commander Shepard?" Gabriel said, grim anticipation brimming within him, a thirst to smite the enemies of Humanity building up within.

Shepard then had a smile of her own, and then proudly said, "Right now."

IIOII

If the holographic image of the _Vengeful Sword_ was an accurate diagram of the actual thing, it did not do the architecture of the ship itself any justice.

Shepard and Gabriel could only stare at the ship in awe, the grand design of the ship making it look incredibly imposing and sturdy, yet possessing incredible asthetic appeal that made artists stare at it in jealousy.

Real golden turrets sat unmoving, the golden metal shining as if they were prized jewels, while the crystal pylons in the centre of the extending golden claws glowed with bright, iridiscent light, illuminating the environment around it like a rainbow. The prow's armor was coloured a natural obsidian black, turquoise glowing runes of an archaic language dotting it like the rest of the ship, the cross-shaped thrusters pulsating with waves of orange magnetism.

Not to mention it's sheer size made the _Normandy_ look like a mere ant beneath the foot of a giant, an insect meant to be crushed and forgotten by the passing sands of time.

The engineer in Shepard was far more aroused by the ship itself, far more than thought possible by the Human Spectre by the sheer design of the _Vengeful Sword_ , a culmination of years of technological research.

Tali was speechless; she had seen dozens of expertly designed ships made by the several different factions of the UAP, but they never ceased to amaze her, to appeal to her innate engineering sense.

Achamus gulped in nervousness just being near the ship; even though he would hardly get to be in an actual Thedosian ship, that did not mean he could not marvel at the sheer majesty of the ship itself.

The _Vengeful Sword_ ; a name beffiting of a majestic citadel of a ship.

At the ramp of the battlecruiser, hundreds of soldiers in different types of armor – all painted a dazzling silver, save the Protoss and Zerg that gathered – and of different races all gathered in neat ranks of formation at two sides outside of the ship, all holding a white banner bearing a black sigil of a flying eagle with three stars beneath.

Shepard could also see a few Turians and Human marines from the Systems Alliance – as indicated by their insignia of three stars under a pseudo-arrowhead – gathered to serve as the crew of the ship, though the two sides were visibly uncomfortable working with each other.

Amarthathor nodded with satisfaction, happy that the troops that were selected were only the finest in all of UAP territory and chosen for this mission.

Shepard, however, pitied them for participating in what may be a suicide mission that required them to strictly conceal their force's identity, remembering some of Amarthathor's words said to her and the others back at the meeting room.

" _Another thing all of you will have to note," Amarthathor spoke with all seriousness, "When you partake in this mission, you will all be considered either dead or missing with your real locations unknown."_

 _Most looked rather taken aback and surprised, though they half-expected it as they did not take it as hardly as Shepard would have expected._

" _And mind if I ask why is this necessary?" Shepard inquired, questioning the feasibility of such a thing._

 _Looking at the inquisitive looks given to him by Gabriel Angelos and the Human Spectre, he then explained, "This is to protect the privacy of the operating force, because it will essentially be a sizeable UAP force trespassing deep into Council territory, especially that of Master Angelos here, given that he is a complete unknown to the rest of the Council."_

 _Both nodded, seeing the sensibility of faking their deaths through false information._

 _Angelos then pointed out, "You seem extremely reluctant to let the Council know about any of this, Amarthathor."_

 _The Dragonkin Emperor only sighed in irritation as he took yet another long sip of his tea, who then stated, "Only from the Asari Councilor and most of Council media; they have been endlessly hounding both the UAP and the Systems Alliance and Turian Hierarchy over every single damn thing we do, and I am getting incredibly fed up with their persistence."_

" _Especially given that this Councilor Tevos is most untrusting of any of you?" Gabriel suggested, to which the Emperor nodded._

 _From the beginning of her career as Councilor, Tevos had always made sure the Asari Republics had stayed the most politically powerful species of the entire Council, even when the Salarians and Turians also had council seats._

 _From blackmailing to bribing and even hiring mercenaries, she had always ensured the Republic's continued success in monopolising the galaxy's Eezo supplies through secret dealings with the late Aria T'loak and her mercenary kingdom, which unfortunately for her, ceased to exist upon being destroyed by the Blademasters of Andarath._

 _She also adamantly refused to allow the other Council races – namely the Turians and Humans – from gaining any additional political clout, the former by granting the Volus, their client race, a Council seat, and the latter by not granting them the same thing._

 _Relentless in her pursuit for power, nothing could quench her thirst or sate her hunger for empowering the already decadent Asari race, creating a dangerous sense of complacency among the Citadel Council that was quickly weakening the Council from the inside out._

 _Amarthathor only scoffed at that, hardly caring about the greedy wants of Councilor Tevos, "The true threat lies not in the Asari Republics or these Collectors, but in the Burning Legion."_

Shepard had totally no idea what was the Burning Legion exactly, only that it was a conglomerate of demons under the leadership of a fallen 'Titan' by the name of Sargeras bent on galactical domination from the few tales told to her by the Coalition; the Empire also had no information on the Legion, but they were more than willing to believe it existed.

Approaching from behind her was Gabriel Angelos, loud footsteps as heavy as an elephant's informing her of his presense.

Turning around, she whistled in surprise at the size of the burly man clad in power armor before her.

"Wow, you are really large for a Human," She commented, causing the Chapter Master to tilt his head in confusion at her reaction.

"No one in the Imperium comments on such a trivial thing," Gabriel stated.

Seeing the confused expression on Shepard's face, Amarthathor answered for her, "The Humans of this galaxy tend to state the obvious."

Initially, his brows furrowed in concentration, trying to digest the meaning of his words; as Gabriel said, few in the Imperium ever cared about the sheer size of the Space Marines who fought to tackle whatever horrors the Imperium could not handle, and the Eldar usually kept whatever comments – other than their supposed race's superiority – to themselves if it was irrelevant.

Now though, he straightened his body in pride, proudly saying in a booming voice, "Indeed I am, Commander Shepard; every Space Marine is as majestic as I am."

Satisfied at Gabriel's answer, Shepard then moved towards the _Normandy_ , Joker waiting expectantly with a beaming smile at the entrance ramp.

"Shall we set off, Commander?" Joker asked, his smile just shy of being jubiliant.

Shepard happily replied, much to Joker's expectations, "We're moving out! For the Systems Alliance!"

IIOII

Kal'Reegar ducked beneath the ruins of a fallen concrete column just as a pulse of plasma barely missed his helmeted head by inches, just shy of completely incinerating his head into a mixture of ash and fleshy gore.

Hefting his enchanted Exso rifle in hand – one of the few thousand made in cooperation with UAP weaponsmiths – he unleashed a slew of Exso slugs wreathed in fadefire that instantly burned through the metal plating of Heretic Geth troopers that were laying siege to his team's position, capitalising on the reprive in the rate of fire from his enemies.

Alongside him, Legion relentlessly pelted the Heretics' cover with focused sapphire lances launched from his long-barreled gun that glowed the same sapphire, his expressionless face never betraying the cold, bitter hatred it and the other loyalist Geth held for the traitorous Heretics.

Forming a rough line covering the entrance to the bunker they were hunkering in, Reegar and several other loyalist Geth and Quarian marines fought tooth and nail to keep their only safepoint secure from enemy occupation.

Kal'Reegar cursed his luck; it was supposed to be a simple observation mission on the abandoned colony to find out ways to alter the star's radiation, and in the process salvage any outdated technology to either scrap for resources or adapt into their ever-advancing technology.

Even with the help of at least three magi raining down hell on the Heretics, unleashing great arcs of lightning and meteor showers that decimated their ranks, many more still advanced, and the magi were not invincible; their mana reserves were running dry, and were becoming more vulnerable with fewer Quarians to cover them while they casted their magic.

With Legion as a guide to show them the layout of the abandoned colony, it was supposed to be, as most Humans would call it, a walk in the park.

No one had wanted, or even expected the Heretic Geth to even make their move at such a moment, when the Quarian team was away from the safety of the UAP.

Two Quarians hurridely ferried a heavy machine gun loaded with a rectangular box protruding slightly outwards towards an entrenched position with metallic supports, their task incredibly difficult with the hundreds of Eezo slugs pelting their cover continuously.

One of them was unlucky enough to be killed by a stray shot to the neck, where armor was completely absent, spraying blue blood on his commrade's helmet and coating it like crude war paint.

The same thing happened to one of the magi, who ended up being killed by a stray slug that struck his neck where his armor was the weakest, whatever final words he wanted to say being inaudible by the blood chocking his voice.

Another Quarian quickly rushed to aid the remaining Quarian in setting up the heavy weapon, prompting the others to cover their charge by peppering their encroaching enemies with relentless cover fire, forcing the Heretics to halt their advance momentarily.

A brief spark of hope welled within the hearts of the Quarians, hails of slugs pouring forth from the heavy weapon emplacement as they continued to massacre any Heretic Geth that came far too close to the machine gun for comfort.

Not wasting the reprive, Kal'Reegar commanded on his communicator in his ear, "All marines, keep the machine gun protected! Make sure our position is not overwhelmed!"

The Quarian marines had no time to waste on words, knowing full well the consequences of failing here and now; they continued to fight with increased fervor, hoping to display the same bravery the UAP did against their enemies in countless battles.

Bright streaks of azure blue clashed with slugs burning an unnatural emerald green and sapphire lances, the battle progressing nowhere as the two sides fought each other to a stalemate, the signal jammer they possessed preventing the Heretics from finding their location up in space.

Their blossoming hope soon turned to despair as a Heretic Geth Prime loosed a rocket on the machine gun emplacement, obliterating the weapon into smithereens as the Quarians manning it turned into piles of blue coloured gore scattered around on the cold, concrete floor.

Without fear of the heavy weapon firing on them, the Heretics advanced onwards, sealing the fate of the Quarian marines and the Geth who accompanied them.

As his helmet concealed his entire face, Legion could only know the heavy hearted emotions Kal'Reegar felt within his heart when he spoke in a solemn voice, "Legion... it was nice to have you as a commrade."

Though Legion could not display emotion, Reegar could still detect some sembalance of sorrow in the Geth's voice as it croaked, "As I..."

Legion never managed to finish what he wanted to say, before a bright emerald lance impacted a clustered group of Heretics right before the Quarians' and Legion's eyes, obliterating every trace of their existence as nothing of them remained.

The suddeness of the attack had left the defenders momemtarily stunned, wondering how did the lance appear out of nowhere.

Once they managed to discern the cause though, their hearts began to free themselves from the depths of despair, as they began to look to the skies, bright emerald orbs and white streaks overshadowed by the star's blinding illumination.

Help had come; no one had forsaken them.

IIOII

"Unleash the Nalika cannon!" Amarthathor bellowed, "Spare no mercy to the Heretics!"

On his command, the metallic plates of the _Vengeful Sword's_ frontal armor began to shift apart to reveal a pulsating emerald orb, it's glow intensifying by the second as power began to build up in the ship's spinal cannon.

The emerald lance shot forth, tearing a Heretic ship in half as it bisected the ship in the middle, a tiny explosion following it's Eezo core imploding as the lance impacted it directly.

"Deploy Eagle transports to the Quarians' defensive positions!" The Emperor ordered, grabbing his obsidian axe and resting the haft on his shoulder, "I want the location reinforced to the point it can withstand a substantial assault!"

With the efficiency of a well-oiled machine, soldiers and crew members rushed to their stations without pushing each other or clumsily bumping into objects around them, a cluster of drop pods carrying soldiers burning up as they entered the planet's atmosphere.

Onboard the _Normandy_ , Shepard began to don her armor made in Cerberus colours, her chosen teammates being Thrakos and Tali as each began to arm themselves with their respective weapons of choice.

Thrakos eagerly hefted his plasma axe with the psionic axe blades glowing a crystaline indigo blue, satisfied that his psionic powers had not waned in the slightest since the severing of his nerve tendrils.

Tali, on the other hand, loaded her omni-tool with all sorts of hacking programs that she would need to temporarily disable Geth units on the battlefield, and began inspecting her pistol to ensure it was in prime operating condition.

Once they had checked and equipped their weapons, the team of three were ready to depart, heading to the docking bay to board a kodiak shuttle that would take them to the planet's surface to rendevous with the surviving Quarian garrison and reinforcements, so that the ground forces would move in to clear the remaining Heretic forces from the barren planet.

Thrakos hated bending down to fit in the shuttle, given his large size, so he had to settle for sitting on the shuttle's cold, metallic floor, the seats far too small to handle his size and weight.

The Heretic Geth frantically tried to maneuvere to counter the reinforcements approaching the planet's surface, but it was impossible; they had no orbital defenses to take out the drop pods, and the few ships they stationed in space were being obliteratred by the UAP ship combating them.

Landing with a loud thundering sound, the doors of the drop pods burst open to allow three squads of soldiers garbed in silver armor to charge forth and brandish their swords and axes, some of them – recognisably Turians and Rachni, the latter wearing no armor of sorts – staying behind at the fortifications to enclose any gaps that were made in the encircling defense line.

The loyalist Geth were the first to charge, their hatred for the Heretics cold and bitter which was only made worse at the sight of several creators that lay dead before their eyes.

The survivors regained their bearings and joined the counterattack, their hate for the Heretics fueled by anger at the sight of their dead commrades.

A few of the reinforcing soldiers morphed in shape and size, their beings enshrouded in black mist as they emerged forth as large reptilian beasts, roaring loudly into the air as they flew to wreak havoc among the Heretics, breathing fire upon the mechanised troopers as their electronics were roasted beyond repair.

Yet they did not venture far, acting under strict orders from the Emperor to avoid letting the Heretic Geth take advantage of their isolation from their allies.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the Heretics had no choice but to abandon their assault, the UAP soldiers giving a ragged cheer as they fled the battle, though they did not see any Geth ships attempting to leave the planet, which many had not expected despite the Heretics' predictament in plain sight for all to see.

As Shepard's transport landed, much to the pleasure of Thrakos as the Khalai Protoss embraced the open surroundings, Tali fought to keep her tears from falling at the sight of her dead kinsmen, muttering a short prayer for their souls.

As some of the Thedosians began cremating the Quarian bodies – or at least, what remained of them – in pyre oils sanctified by priests, she could recognise Legion talking to what appeared to be the leader of the Quarian garrison, who sported several bandages covering his chest and left arm.

Shepard had to admit, even with the Geth's arm no longer able to meet today's standards of high-quality armor, it never even tried to replace it at all, though it just made the one-time Geth ambassador so much easire to identify.

"Hey Legion," Shepard greeted as she approached them, "Been a while since I last saw you."

The Geth in question curtly nodded at her, its gaze somehow distant and forlorn; at least, that's what Shepard thought it looked like.

"And who might you be?" Shepard asked the bandaged Quarian, who winced at the pain of his injury.

"Kal'Reegar, ma'am," The Quarian introduced himself, "Have to say, I never expected you to arrive with Thedosian reinforcements."

Shepard had to agree; this was her first time going into battle with an actual Thedosian force as allies, though it was actually a united force consisting of squadrons of soldiers from all factions allies with the Empire, the Turian Hierarchy included.

"And I have also never seen their livery before," Legion commented, finally breaking his silence, "Exactly who are they, for that matter? Where did they come from?"

Shepard was caught off-guard; back at the command centre on New Halamshiral, they had not even bothered to try and come up with a name for the strike force assembled to do their task, and given the fact that most of them were considered dead or missing, it would create many inquiries about their actual origins and true intentions, though the presense of numerous vigilante organisations and guilds originating from the Empire and Coalition was no absolute secret.

She then engaged in a speed-of-thought conversation with Thrakos, sharing an alarmed look with him.

 _Shit, we never got an official desigation for such a situation!_ She thought out loud in a panicky tone.

{It was only an oversight,} Thrakos said, albeit in an irritated mood, {We had assumed that we would only operate in Council space.}

 _Well, for times such as this, we definitely neglected to prepare precautionary measures!_ Shepard retorted, emphasizing the point.

Frantically racking her brains for a suitable answer, she blurted out, "We're... the Knights."

"The Silver Knights of Ethrandir!" A nearby Dwarven soldier piped up.

The Human Spectre groaned inwardly, which was noticed by Praetor Thrakos thanks to his psionic powers.

{The Silver Knights of Ethrandir...} The Protoss mused with a hint of amusement, {It is a rather fitting name for the strike force accompanying us, don't you think?}

 _Just remind me to hit whoever suggested the name,Thrakos,_ Shepard said, rolling her eyes in sarcastic annoyance, _But who is this Ethrandir guy, anyway?_

Thrakos directed her a rather funny expression, which was visible only through his eyes, lacking a mouth to convey a proper expression. {You do not know? And to correct you there, it is the name of a _place_ , not a person.}

 _Well, sorry for not knowing, but I don't really study that much history, even the Systems Alliance's, for that matter,_ Shepard said without an ounce of guilt in her voice.

Sighing heavily, as if he had encountered a stubborn child unwilling to learn, he then explained, {Ethrandir is the name of an isolated colony within the Empire's borders, dedicated to training and fielding only the best of specialist and regular soldiers onto the battlefield, mostly as quick-response forces or to serve in the main army.} 

What Thrakos said was from his own memory of visiting the actual place and from what he gleamed from the historical textbooks that described the colony's history in every detail.

Ethrandir was home to the most prestegious war academy renowned throughout the Empire, hundreds of students and trainees graduating every year with flying colours in the arts of war.

It was also home to a huge momument dedicated to every single soul that perished during the Eternal war, along with a courtyard of stone statues dedicated to several prominent figures that distinguished themselves during the war and sacrificed themselves for the greater good, Amarthathor's father and grandfather, Delmalrith and Sebastian respectively.

It was also the place where many vigilante bands originated from, the Blademasters of Andarath included.

 _Now that you mention it,_ Shepard said after hearing the whole history, _why did that random guy mention Ethrandir of all places?_

{That might be something you will have to ask the Emperor yourself,} The Praetor stated, unsure about the suggestion as well.

"The Silver Knights of Ethrandir?" Kal'Reegar repeated the name as if it was foreign to him, "Why haven't I heard of those people before?"

"No records of such an order exists, Shepard-Commander," Legion reaffirmed, somewhat suspicious about the whole string of events, "If they really do, why has no one heard of them?"

Gathering her wits about herself, she quickly answered, "They're a temporary military force that has just been established recently; all you need to know is that they're all UAP soldiers, with the odd mix of Turians and SA soldiers."

Surely enough, both the Quarian marine and Geth could see a few Turians and some Human marines in white armor, their design making them stand out the most compared to the others in the same livery and colours.

Satisfied with her answer, they both decided to let the matter slide, much to Shepard's relief.

"So what happened just now?" Shepard asked, even though she could already guess.

Clenching its fists tightly despite the earlier victory they managed to score, Legion spat in fury, "The Heretics ambushed our entire surveying team just as we were preparing the equipment to help the mages with us decrease the star's radiation output."

"It's as Legion says," Kal'Reegar reaffirmed, "We were working to get some of the Thedosian magi to help revive the dying star in order to reduce the radiation levels, make the planet more inhabitable by doing so before they attacked us out of nowhere."

Seeing Kal'Reegar's rather despodent mood – most likely for having so many casualties under his command, she thumped him on the back with an encouraging smile, the Quarian appreciating the gesture.

"You're not to blame for their deaths, Reegar," Shepard comforted, "Whenever you're leading a team, there's always a chance some of them will die, whether you like it or not."

This was from her experience, back when she was still a regular SA marine who was deployed with an entire scouting team on an isolated colony called Akuze.

There, she and her team encountered a rampaging Thresher maw, which massacred all of the marines under her command, making her the sole survivor.

Despite such a black mark on her record, two Admirals, one of them being Admiral Anderson – before he became Councilor – and another by the name of Hackett, recommended her for the role of an N7 Marine, the finest soldiers the Systems Alliance had to offer.

Even at night, she could still hear their dying screams haunting her in her dreams, reminding her of her failure in trying to save her teammates. The blood-curdling screams that sent shivers down her spine, the spine-chilling sights of her former commrades' corpses lying mutilated in pools of blood, staining the snow-covered ground red.

She shook her head; she had to focus, now was not the time to let bad memories distract her from her objective.

"So what have you come here for?" Kal'Reegar inquired, "I don't think you just came here to help us, did you?"

"Of course I came to help you, we're allies after all," Shepard countered, "Though I did come here to investigate something as well."

Blinking several times, Kal'Reegar harrumphed awkwardly before saying, "Well, I guess some of the Systems Alliance Humans can keep their word, so what were you investigating?"

Shepard's expression narrowed in seriousness, her look brookering absolutely no nonsense, "Intel suggests that the Heretics are hiding something on this colony, and they don't want anyone finding out at any cost."

The Quarian nodded, acknowledging the sound reasoning behind the Heretics' attack; if they had something of immesurable value to whatever infernal plans they were coming up with, it was only sensible to conceal any trace of it's existense, even lethally if no other option was avaliable.

"My Lady!" Shepard heard someone approach her, who turned out to be one of the surviving magi accompanying the Quarian reclaimation team.

"First off, I'm no noble, so Commander Shepard is fine," The Spectre corrected, much to the mage's embarassment.

"Then, Commander, I have managed to find the location of the Heretic Stronghold on this colony."

That caught Shepard's attention. "Details. Now."

Clearing his throat, the mage explained, "Using a scrying spell, I have determined that the Heretics are trying to protect something underground, in a facility about two leagues north of here; said something in question is actually a Human in a stasis pod."

Looking at the Commander with equal seriousness, he solemnly stated, "I do not know what they are planning to do to him, but I do not want to wait and see; we must act now."

Smiling wryly, Shepard simply said, "Isn't that what we're here for?"

IIOII

Two Heretic sentries stood on eternal vigil outside the entrance to the facility, the passage of time becoming an eternity for the synthetics as seconds became eternities for them, insignificant in the lifespan of an AI.

Without warning the first one fell, an large, blue-skinned bipedal being in golden armor decapitating it with swift precision.

Before the second one could react it was shot down by two plasma arrows piercing its torso, failing its mission to send a distress signal to the rest hiding within.

Slinging his axe on his shoulder, Thrakos looked at the doors leading into the underground facility with a disdainful expression, ready to cut them down without hesitation.

Before he could do that though, Amarthathor stood in front of them, then moved to grab one side, motioning for Thrakos to do the same with the other.

In a display of overwhelming strength, the doors were forcefully pulled apart, creaking and rumbling like a ghost's unnatural wails piercing the air and making it scream in agony. Without much effort, the fifty soldiers – both Terran marines and Azerothian priests – who accompanied them went ahead, scouting the area for any signs of potential danger.

The place itself was rather dark, the flashlights from the Terran marines' rifles the only thing illuminating the otherwise pitch-black atmosphere.

"Man, it's so damn dark in here," A Terran commented, his polarised, domed visor lifted up to show his slight trepidation, "Almost makes me wish for a good drink back on Tarsonis."

"At least you have us to heal your wounds in battle," An Azerothian priest – a Blood Elf – stated, tapping his staff on the ground with every step he made.

Chuckling to himself despite the earlier mood, he said in return, "Guess you're never gonna give up your ancient vocab, eh?"

"Be quiet," Amarthathor ordered, holding up a fist, "I hear footsteps."

Immediately, all soldiers ceased their needless chatter and gripped their weapons in grim anticipation, the place becoming deathly quiet save the rythmic beating of their hearts reverberating in their ears.

The agonising silence that followed felt incredibly long, seconds stretching into long minutes and hours, the slightest sound amplified severalfold in their hearing.

A patrol of three Heretics began to near their position, all of the operating party quickly hiding themselves behind whatever cover could shield their bodies from sight; using magic was unadvisable as the Geth had sensors meant to detect biotics – or other energies, and they did not want to risk the Heretics scuttling whatever package they had in order to deny the UAP a valuble asset.

Four seconds had passed, and they all held their breaths to avoid the Heretics detecting their heartbeats, the heat sinks in their suits absorbing their body heat being radiated and detected by thermal sensors.

Eight seconds had passed, and the Heretic patrol had completely bypassed them, not taking notice at all.

One of them suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning around in the direction of the hiding party and narrowing its flashlight in suspicion.

When it neared the place where Amarthathor was hiding, the Emperor already knew, just like everyone else, that their stealth mission was compromised, and they would have to clear out the facility the old fashioned way.

He directed a look at Shepard, and they both nodded, knowing the new plans they needed to follow.

Quickly carve a path to the place where the package was being held, and extract him to safety before any harm can befall him.

Drawing his axe, the Heretic Geth had no time to react before it was bisected cleanly in half at its midsection, the enchanted metal cutting through the weaker Geth exoskeleton with ease.

The other two were taken down in quick fashion by sprays of bullets powered by powerful chemical explosions within the casings, the projectiles overloading the kinetic barriers and piercing their bodies in short order.

"Move! Quickly! We must secure the hostage before the damned Heretics change their mind and kill him!" Amarthathor bellowed, dashing in the direction where the hostage was supposedly kept, following the Human's lingering scent in the air.

"You heard him, boys! We got someone to rescue!" Shepard reaffirmed his command, readying her omni-blade just in case her gun was no use.

The Terrans roared out a warcry, their Azerothian counterparts doing the same as they brandished their weapons, grim excitement coursing through their minds and hearts.

With reckless abandon, the invading party charged the Heretic patrols scattered throughout the complex, the Terrans' superior rifles making short work of the thin plating of the Heretics' exoskeletons. Any Terran that sustained injuries were quickly sent back fighting in better condition, the priests' healing powers making short work of their wounds.

"Wow, never been happier to have some Azerothian priests on our side!" A Terran marine commented, firing a spray of bullets that dismantled a Geth Prime's head.

"It is a pity not many Terrans wish to learn magic in our magi colleges," An Azerothian priest said, "I am sure the Dominion would benefit greatly from such a boon among their forces."

"Less talk, more combat!" Shepard reprimanded, slicing the head of another Heretic before it could return fire.

Nodding in response, the Terran marines continued their assault, supported by the priests who cast their light magic on their foes as well as healing any injured Terran marines who were rendered out of action due to battle injuries being sustained.

Thrakos charged headlong into a sizeable Heretic patrol, cleaving them in half as he swung his axe in wide arcs, hot plasma burning easily through solid metal and electric wiring.

After the Great War with Amon, Hierarch Artanis of the Khalai Protoss saw fit to initiate a new project to birth a new generation of Khalai Zealots in accordance with the changing times, as the Nerazim and Tal'darim had also made several improvements to their overrall ground forces.

In contrast with the Zealots of old, the new Zealots donned much heavier armor than their older counterparts, and instead of wielding individual psi-blades on each arm, they wielded enormous battleaxes that proved to be able to deal far more damage to enemies, whilst still maintaining the same speed as using psi-blades, thanks to advanced Protoss technology.

Thrakos was one of the very first to volunteer for the project, his current skills the fruits borne of the efforts of the project's success.

With the element of surprise on their side, and the boon of superior technology, the team was able to mercilessly eliminate every Geth patrol they came across with speed equal to that of silent ghosts, leaving a trail of Geth bodies in the wake of their sudden invasion.

Yet even with the huge disparities in fighting experience and technology, the Heretic Geth never backed down from the fight, and instead began to heavily contest their control of the facility, ambushing the party at every possible location with grenades and slugs.

Also, just because the party had superior technology did not mean they were invincible. Already, two marines were instantly killed by lucky shots to their heads, the broken polarised visors the only indication of their sudden deaths at the hands of the Heretics.

Punching the head of a Geth trooper and smashing it into a mess of wires, Amarthathor sliced the head of another Hunter that tried to stab him from behind with its omni-blade, using his very own from his custom-made omni-tool.

In the corner of his eye, he then saw a Heretic Geth aiming a rocket launcher directly at Shepard herself, who had just managed to survive a rocket blast thanks to her kinetic barriers, which were unfortunately overloaded and temporarily unable to function.

Shifting positions in a cloud of black mist, he reappeared behind Shepard just as the Heretic had aimed its launcher at the Spectre, a pitch-black glow taking the shape of a perfect circle on his left arm just as the rocket impacted on it.

When it did, however, both the High Emperor and Shepard were completely unharmed, the circular omni-shield having prevented the two from sustaining any mortal injuries, though the former had instant magical regeneration as long as his body had the mana to sustain it.

Thedosian omni-tools were starkly different to those made by any in the Citadel Council, as they were far more customisable and had many more uses in both the battlefield and at home, though the Empire prefered using blade and magic to resolve most of them.

Coming in different designs and colours according to the user's preferences, it had more improved versions of the omni-blade as well; this time, they could block other melee weapons with the omni-blade if they were fast to react and skilled in fighting, and in the case for need of additional protection, the omni-tool could morph into an omni-shield to protect the user from additional harm, though the drawback was that only one of them could be activated at a time.

As most only used either as a last resort or to alter the tide of the battle slightly, neither saw much use in the hands of Thedosians or Azerothians, though they were quickly gaining popularity with other races.

Seeing the cloud of smoke in front of Amarthathor's face and the black glow on his arm, Shepard then mutually said, "Thanks for the save!"

"You may thank me by slaying more of these Heretic Geth to avenge their attempt on your life!" Amarthathor countered, just as he cast spears of ice at two other Geth troopers that pierced them through.

Without the constant withering glare he directed at the Heretics every time he cleaved one after another, Shepard nerver thought he was actually enjoying himself, bathing in the blood and souls of his enemies.

Tali, unwilling to let the skills of Thrakos and Amarthathor outshine hers, she deployed two drones she created herself and let them spread chaos among the Geth ranks as they unleashed electrical shockwaves, causing the Heretics' systems to malfunction wildly and distract their attention from the real threats.

Slotting a new magazine into her custom-made handcannon, she fired off three shots that burned through the bodies and heads of four Geth troopers, quickly distinguishing herself as a decent marksman through her capabilities in battle.

Cutting through a few dozen Geth patrols that kept blocking their way, the party eventually began descending down a set of corridors and staircases leading to the lower levels, the race against time beginning to reach its climax.

"Taenith, how much further to the hostage's room?" Amarthathor asked, pressing two fingers to his helmet.

" _Not much futher now, my Emperor, just a few more turns and you will reach there, but be wary of a heavy Geth presense at the front doors,_ " The AI explained.

"I see..." Amarthathor murmered as they continued running towards their designated location, "And how many men have we lost in this mission?"

" _So far, our casualties have been light, given the small regiment we took instead of our main force; only less than a score dead so far."_

So they still had over two-thirds of the original fighting force they set out with; they had to compromise with the number of soldiers needed and took an incredibly small group of about thirty marines or more with a few priests to take care of battle injuries, due to the crammed nature of the complex itself, which ruled out the option of bringing an entire regiment.

As they continued running along the corridors and taking out more Heretic patrols in the process, they soon neared the room where the hostage was held, though they also ran into a heavy Geth blockade that had more than three scores of Geth infantry and at least two heavy machine guns aimed at them.

Though the Dragonkin Emperor, Thrakos and Shepard had the skills to avoid sustaining many injuries, the Terran marines did not have the same capabilities as they did, and so were more vulnerable to being slaughtered by the weapon emplacements.

In the span of a milisecond, one of the priests erected a magical barrier that prevented such a massacre from happening, the Eezo slugs being deflected off the golden wall of light that shone brightly in the darkness.

Without fear of the hail of slugs killing them too soon, the marines returned fire from within the barrier and unleashed sprays of chemically-propelled bullets that began peppering the Heretics' positions like a constant hailstorm.

The exchange of fire became increasingly heated, the Heretics fighting tooth and nail to protect the package as if their lives depended on it. Slug after slug pelted the invading party's position, yet more Heretics than marines were dying by the minute, aided by magic and psionics that softened the odds even more.

At the pace they were going, Shepard felt that they would quickly win the fight with light casualties at most in no time.

Amarthathor thought better of it.

Closing his eyes in concentration, he gathered his mana into his right arm, which quickly became wreathed in lightnng as it increased in intensity.

Once he gathered enough power, he directed his arm at the remaining Heretics, unleashing a great arc of lightning that struck one after another, moving from Geth to Geth.

The huge amount of electrical power short-circuited their systems in short order, and then overloaded their cybernetic cores which ended their lives quickly, none of them surviving the lightning blast.

The Terrans who accompanied them could not help but be astounded by the feat the Emperor had performed, for it was the first time seeing such magic come into real play.

One of them whistled loudly as he slung his rifle over the pauldron of his power armor. "Wow, I know the priests ain't no pushovers, but that was certainly something!"

"This is only a fraction of my power at the very best," Amarthathor said as he hacked the door's controls to open it with his omni-tool, "If we were in an all-out war, you would certainly see much more than this."

When they entered the room, Taenith having confirmed that the place was free of Heretic presense, they all saw a Human being preserved in a glass pod of sorts, cold air emmiting from the device itself that condensed on the glass surface.

"So our Human is here, preserved in cyrostasis," One of the priests commented, "He certainly does not look that impressive, when you look at it."

"Yet the Heretics fought hard to keep him out of our hands," Legion murmered, countering the priest.

The Human in question was certainly nothing more than an ordinary Human, wearing early 20th century Earth clothing that had long fallen out of fashion in the history of both the Systems and Korprulu Alliances', the most perculiar part being the forest green shirt bearing a ridiculous-looking name called 'Tobuscus'.

His features were rather chiseled, short, curly hair cut into a short crop, his eyes not visible underneath his closed eyes. By countenance of years, he looked to be in his early thirties, a fairly young adult.

"So what do we do now, Amarthathor?" Shepard asked, wondering about the state of the Human in the pod.

"Bring him aboard the Vengeful Sword," The Dragonkin ordered, "I will question him later when he recovers from cyrostasis."

 **A/N: Forgive me for the long time it took to churn out this chapter; I had entered a writer's block that lasted more than two weeks.**

 **So anyway, my second semester's been rather hectic, but I will still try my best to update as best as I can.**

 **Until then, this is Ebanu8.**


	10. A new stranger

**A/N: So the new Legion expansion for World of Warcraft is coming out very soon, in about four weeks time, and damn, I'm just excited to try out the full game(Though I wish it won't be too focused on solely fighting demons).**

 **So please enjoy reading, and hail to the future of Warcraft!**

 **Guest: I don't even know who or what Doom is, but I'm still glad you like my story. Thanks.**

 **Chapter nine: A new stranger**

 _Celebrations were always the best times of the year; friends visiting you from afar, all work and studies temporarily suspended to make way for the upcoming festivities, it was no different from the celebration of his life._

 _More specifically, it was his birthday._

 _A family of four gathered around a large table filled with wrapped presents and snacks, a large cake slathered in chocolate frosting and garnished with tiny peaks of snow white whipped cream at the centre._

 _On top of the cake were three large candles and one small one, indicating his current age of thirty-one years. In the very centre of the cake was a solid chocolate slab, the white frosting on it spelling the following sentence: Happy birthday Tobuscus._

 _For the man whose friends cheekily called him by such a nickname, it was a happy day. Even though his current job career did not involve so much stress as others did, he still cherished such festive days when he could just forget about all his troubles in life and enjoy himself to the fullest._

 _All around him, his friends, family members and relatives all shouted joyfully, "Happy birthday!"_

 _He could only laugh heartily in such a situation._

Sadly to say, all things good never lasted long, and the dream came to an abrupt end when he awoke in his own home on a comfy bed, the bed itself a little too soft for his own liking. Instead of his bedtime pajamas, he was still in his casual clothing, which seemed a little worse for the wear.

Slowly opening his eyes, he could see that his bedroom was lit far brighter than normal, a rhythmic, mechanincal beeping constantly bothering his ears as he turned to see a monitor screen showing his heartbeat.

 _Wait, I don't remember being hospitalised,_ the man thought to himself as he scanned his surroundings, seeing a large crystal at the ceiling illuminating the room, _Hold on, how the hell is that crystal giving so much light?_

"Ah, I see that you are awake," A silvery, song-like voice boomed from beside him, causing 'Tobuscus' to turn his head to see a golden-blonde haired Elf standing next to him, garbed in a scarlet robe with pieces of armor protecting his vital organs and carrying a long staff in his hand, his eyes glowing an emerald green.

Immediately, upon seeing the Elven Priest, 'Tobuscus' immediately lost all sense of rational thought and began screaming in an incredibly unmanly way, pointing a finger at the Elf as if he was looking at a ghost.

This only served to confuse the Priest as he tilted his head sideways, wondering just what caused the patient to go into shock, despite his elegant appearance. Any attempt to calm him through words made no difference as the unmanly screaming forced him to cover his ears, lest he suffer from impaired hearing.

The doors leading into the medical bay then parted to reveal a large Elf who was slightly taller than the Elven priest, wearing ornate silver armor in place of his customary black, alien symbols adorning the right side of his face.

The screaming had caused Amarthathor to be incredibly irritated, despite the victory they had scored against the Heretic Geth, so he took out a steel box in his hands, and after opening the lid, used a pair of chopsticks to take out a cooked squid tentacle that looked extremely charred and was covered in a white, viscous substance.

Taking advantage of the fact that 'Tobuscus' was too busy screaming in shock to notice his presense, he quickly stuffed the suspicious-looking tentacle in his mouth and forcefully clamped it shut, making him chew on it.

'Tobuscus' regretted not paying more attention to the surroundings; curling his face in disgust, he unceremoniously spat out the horrible-tasting tentacle onto the floor, though remnants of the wicked flavor still remained on his tongue.

"Yucks! What the hell did you put into my mouth!?" The patient ranted in an American accent, his face still wrinkling in disgust.

Nonchantly shrugging, Amarthathor coolly answered, "Dried squid tentacles dressed in yogurt. And that was for screaming like a little girl."

Upon hearing him point that out, his cheeks flushed in embarassment, realising his rather uncalled-for behaviour. After quickly apologising for his outburst, he was then given a quick explaination on how he ended up in where he was now.

"So basically, you don't even know how I got there in the first place?" 'Tobuscus' asked, to which the two nodded, much to his frustration, "Great, now I know this isn't a dream."

"Dream or not, you are away from whatever place you come from, and you will have to answer some questions we have for you," Amarthathor pointed out, his expression becoming serious.

Upon sensing the change of mood, 'Tobuscus' immediately reigned in any further queries or enquiries he had and decided to leave them for later.

Sitting down on a chair next to 'Tobuscus', Amarthathor poured some tea he had stored in an intricately decorated vacuum flask into the topmost cover which served as a cup, taking the time to savour the sweet, refreshing taste in small sips.

After what seemed like the fourth sip, the Dragonkin then asked, "So what is your name, exactly? You cannot expect me to call you 'Tobuscus', yes?"

At first, 'Tobuscus' seemed rather confused as to how he knew that name, then realised that the printed name on his T-shirt was visible for all of them to see, mentally scolding himself for being so unattentive to not take notice of such a blatant fact.

"You got that right," The man agreed, extending out a hand, "My name's Toby, Toby Turner."

"I am Amarthathor Sardothien, leader of the Silver Knights of Ethrandir," The Dragonkin introduced himself, choosing to withold his real identity for the time being as he shook the now-christened Toby's hand.

"I am Meleath Lightfall, a Priest of the Holy Light," The Blood Elf politely bowed with a warm smile.

Meleath was something of a prodigy among his fellow acolytes, always astounding his teachers by accomplishing difficult feats of light magic without much training needed, which admittedly made more than a few of his juniors and seniors jealous of him.

When he became a full-fledged priest, however, instead of succeeding the previous archbishop of the Order of priests he was serving in, he chose to devote his time to explore the fields of science, mainly weapons engineering and biotechnology.

It surprised many of his colleagues and friends, considering that priests of the Coalition never studied more than basic sciences and never the more advanced fields, but when asked, he admitted, much to some of his seniors' chagrin, that he had a love for science since his father was a knowledgeable scientist.

"Now that introductions are over," Amarthathor said, "I believe we need you to answer a few questions."

"After ending up in the middle of nowhere, heck yeah, I'll answer whatever question you have," Toby affirmed, smiling despite the situation he was in.

IIOII

"Oh my God," Toby moaned for the umpteenth time, "So you're saying I ended up here because of some sort of 'temporal displacement?'"

"I am afraid so, Toby," Amarthathor said, symphatising with the distraught man before him, "Right now, the time continuum is incredibly unstable and fluctuations are becoming increasingly unpredictable and more dangerous, so trying to send you back would be a death sentence."

"But when did this start happening, your m-I mean, Amarthathor?" Meleath inquired, correcting himself in order to keep Amarthathor's secret safe. "As far as I know, the Bronze Dragonflight have reported the same thing in recent years, but this is the first time it has done such a thing."

"If I knew, I would have told you, and perhaps the Bronze Dragonflight would have as well," Amarthathor sighed heavily, sipping on his favourite tea.

From what Toby had heard from Amarthathor and Meleath, his being here was caused by what could only be described as a result of the time continuum becoming too unstable, bringing him and another person from their homes to this galaxy.

And as Amarthathor said, he knew the right spell to allow Toby to return to his distant home, but the unstable time continuum posed a grave danger to them if they tried doing so, and so Toby Turner was condemned to be trapped in a galaxy full of aliens and dangers until the UAP could find a way to calm the raging storm, and restore the natural flow of the time continuum.

As for further inquiries to Toby's home, he explained that where he lived, the technology was fairly primitive in comparison to those of the different races and factions that existed here; even the Citadel Council had more advanced tech than his home planet.

What they did not half-expect, was that his home planet was also called Earth, just like those of the Systems Alliance and Terran Dominion.

"Wait, there's the guys from Starcraft _and_ Mass Effect here?" Toby blurted out, confusing the duo who was questioning him. "Oh, sorry, random thought that crossed my mind."

Mentally berating himself for letting his mouth run wild, Toby prepared himself for more questions and enquiries that would be made by Amarthathor and Meleath, when an Elven soldier – not of the same species as Meleath – walked into the room and passed Amarthathor a brown coloured bag that looked incredibly familiar to him, realising that it was _his_ backpack.

"Hey! That's my bag!" Toby exclaimed, almost reaching for it out of instinct.

Handing it back to Toby, Amarthathor allowed the Elven soldier to excuse himself as he left the room, while Toby rummaged through his bag to find anything of importance to him.

Whilst shifting through his bag's contents, he unknowingly pulled one thin box with a cover of a lone man directing a green magical beam at what Amarthathor recognised as the rift, though it was only through watching a historical reenactment of the rise of the Inquisition on television.

Realising that the box was in plain view, Toby quickly tried to hide the box inside his bag, earning a suspecting look from the Emperor.

"So would you mind telling me what is so valuble inside the bag?" Amarthathor asked, taking another sip of his tea.

At first, Toby wanted to hide the painful truth from both of them, lest he risk jeopardizing his current position with them, but given the frightening gaze that Amarthathor's unnaturally golden amber eyes directed at him, he relented and reluctantly pulled out five thin boxes made of plastic.

Giving them to the duo, he let them scrutinuze every last detail of every box; the pictures at the front and back of them, the titles inscribed on the covers, whatever could give an adequate explaination to his earlier behaviour.

At first, both could not help but wonder why was Toby so dodgy about the video game boxes – that they recognised through the few times they visited the game shops scattered throughout Dominion and Alliance.

When Amarthathor looked at the same box with the picture of the man standing below the rift, his eyes were glued to the title 'Dragon Age: Inquisition'.

For a moment, he looked like he had seen a ghost, and he turned to look at the back of the box, seeing depictions of the many companions that had accompanied his grandfather in his quest to seal the breach, though the actors in many of the historical reennactment dramas he watched never looked identical to the ones shown on the box.

In fact, the man who was supposedly the Inquisitor wore completely different armor than his grandfather, and he was a Human, rather than a Dragonkin.

Meleath looked equally shocked when he inspected the box labeled with the title 'World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor'. On the front was an accurate depiction of the warlord Gromash Hellscream, while depictions of a few people of other races at the back were visible to his widening emerald eyes.

So many questions formed in their head, the number of answers far too few to even start solving half of them, but they kept asking themselves one important question: How did Toby's people even know about all they know?

Finishing their inspection of the video game boxes, they both directed a stern glare at the query before them, the man flinching under their gazes as he prepared himself for the harsh berating and anger outbursts from the duo.

"I want you to answer me this," Amarthathor said, his voice carrying a core of iron, "What has this game, Dragon Age, shown you?"

Hesitant to answer at first, and partially confused at Amarthathor's earlier expression when he saw the Dragon Age video game box, he reluctantly answered under the Emperor's withering glare, "Pretty much the Inquisition fighting the group of guys called the Venatori and sealing the breach, and the Fifth Blight, and-"

"Keep it short and simple," The Dragonkin interrupted him impatiently.

Gulping in fear, he continued, "And the Dalish Elves, and the Chantry, and all the other stuff."

Levelling his eyes with his, Amarthathor then asked, "Anything else?"

Shaking his head wordlessly, Toby could only wait for his inevitable days in prison as he would be relentlessly questioned by countless others in this universe, desperately wishing that he was back at home, filming his usual silly videos and uploading them on the internet.

After contemplating whatever Toby could guess, Amarthathor once again leveled his eyes with Toby's, his expression solemn and sad, a stark crontrast to his earlier sterness that bordered on the edge of his emotional restraint.

The Emperor then asked, "Tell me, did it tell you anything about the Dragonkin of the continent?"

Genuinely confused, Toby only shook his head.

It was then Meleath's turn to ask his questions.

"Toby, yes?" He inquired, to which their query nodded, "Can you tell me how much of Azeroth do you know about?"

Toby then let out a breath he did not know was holding; compared to the terrifying aura of Amarthathor, Meleath was gentler in comparison, seeing Toby's confused state and allowing him to calm his nerves before speaking.

The man then proceeded to tell him everything he knew from the game 'Warcraft'; he was not well versed in the world's history, since he was never one to explore the lore, but he certainly was up-to-date with everything that happened during the time when the old Alliance and Horde barely kept themselves from killing each other.

From the time of the invasion of the Burning Legion from the Dark Portal, to the advent of the Undead Scourge and the Lich King, and even the Iron Horde's attack on Azeroth, he knew all of the events that happened, though he certainly did not know about the arrival of the Master Chief and Green Dragon.

When Toby heard of the two being on Azeroth, his confusion only became worse by the minute, which was only aleviated by the explaination that both their ships experienced a malfunction in their FTL drives, causing them to randomly teleport to the world.

He did not know of the Green Dragon, but he certainly had knowledge of the Master Chief, which prompted Amarthathor to ask Toby to listen carefully.

"Prepare yourself for a long lesson in our history," The Emperor informed Toby, "There is much you should know."

IIOII

Several Dragons, all in either a magical disguise or in their true bronze-scaled forms, gathered in one huge hall decorated with all sorts of magical artefacts and devices that radiated the power to alter time.

The hall itself was majestic, tall pillars of bronze or gold held up a tall ceiling that allocated more than enough space for Dragons to move around, the place eerily silent save the roaring of a few young Dragons and the endless ticking of nearby clocks. The ceiling itself had a large opening in it, a huge tunnel being the entrance to the main timeline.

At one end of the hall stood a lone Dragon, adpoting the form of a High Elven man whose regal bearing was in plain sight for all to see as he sat on a large throne of bronze, ancient alphabets and inscriptions dotting both of it's armrests.

"My Lord Anachronos," A Gnomish woman with white hair in a beautiful violet robe addressed the Dragon on the throne, "Our Thedosian allies report that yet another person has been displaced from his own world."

Rubbing his head in irritation, Anachronos then asked, "And what of the state of the different timelines, Chromie?"

Equally distressed by the recent events, Chromie replied, "It's no good; the time continuum's only worsening by the minute, and it's taking a lot of power to just try and maintain it's stability."

Cursing vehemently in his own language for several seconds, Anachronos then said, "You may go, Chromie, and keep me informed on any further developments. The rest of you may leave too."

Nodding, Chromie then transformed into her Dragon form and flew off along with the others present, leaving Anachronos alone with his own thoughts as he comprehended the real cause of the instability of all the timelines.

Someone was directly intefering with the time continuum's stability, of that he was certain; no other cause would be directly responsible for the cataclysmic changes in timelines that would eventually sunder time itself, if this was not rectified soon enough.

Many people would think that by altering a main event in the timeline to avert certain disaster would be incredibly simple, and not result in a catastrophie afterwards. Unfortunately, it was not so simple as many would speculate.

The river of time itself was never set in stone, always fickle and prone to split into many branches should an alteration in it's intended course occur; should there be too many alterations, it would result in several random timelines merging with the main timeline, causing a complete collapse in the stability of time.

Though he had no doubt that the Infinite Dragonflight would be responsible for throwing the balance of time into chaos, he also suspected that all this was due to the machinations of a few radical Bronze dragons within the flight.

As for the origins of the Infinite Dragonflight, not many mortals knew about them, but those who did knew they were former Bronze dragons that descended into chronic madness, their mentality of having complete control over time hacing deranged them into power-hungry devils thirsting for more power.

Ever since his father had become mortal, his ascension as the Bronze aspect had been rather smooth, with only the task of maintaining the timelines' stability to tirelessly oversee throughout his immortal life. At least, from an outside perspective.

It was true, for the most part; there were minor fluctuations in the time continuum for the past millennium, but they were nothing too serious that warranted a high state of alert.

For the past two centuries, however, they had begun growing more and more unstable, the fluctuations increasing in intensity and frequency, worrying all four Dragonflights within the Coalition.

Within the UAP, other than a few trusted officials within the Dominion, and the Protoss, Zerg, Thedosians and Azerothians, absolutely no one else outside the inner circle had ever received news of such a danger; allowing the information to spread like wildfire was tantamount to destabalising the fragile galactic peace that lasted for several days following First Contact with the Citadel Council.

Rouge slaver rebels and mercenary bands frequently harassed UAP patrols following the conquest of Omega, though they were forced to cut back on the frequency of attacks given the limited number of ships at their disposal, and the huge gap in technology.

One such example of a fanatical Bronze was Kairozdormu, who was responsible for drastically altering the timeline and causing the invasion of Azeroth by the Iron Horde.

Though he was inevitably dispatched by a team of four, consisting of the famed Archmage Khadgar – former apprentice of the late Medivh, and leader of the Human Expedition through the Dark Portal to the sundered world of Draenor – and Chromie, along with the Master Chief and Green Dragon, the damage to the timeline had been done, due to a Temporal Lock that set the events in stone.

Anachronos sighed heavily; the timeline's stability had to be restored soon, or they would soon be beset by endless temporal displacements all across the galaxy.

IIOII

Toby walked along the brightly-lit corridors of the _Vengeful Sword_ , glowing runes dotting the walls wherever he went. Without much else to do, he settled for exploring the large ship's interior.

Given that the corridors were surprisingly organised and less confusing than expected, it made Toby's exploration much easier, allowing him to find his way back sometimes.

As he walked along, he passed by a large, transparent glass pane revealing a huge training arena, where soldiers of all races and units would train in their respective skills, whether it be marksmanship with a bow or rifle, the arts of magic, or even down-to-earth basic melee combat.

Most sparred against each other in pairs or groups of three in practice matches, several instructors on standby to correct whatever mistakes they made in their training.

Among them was a single Quarian, garbed in exotic armor fashioned by his own kin wielding a large Quarian equivalent of a zweihander in a rather awkward fashion, struggling with the weight of his weapon and new armor.

As the Quarian was not wearing a mask, Toby could not tell whether he was a Quarian in the first place, as the Mass Effect games he played at home never even showed the true face of one, even when Rannoch was reclaimed in one of them as part of the main storyline.

From the history lesson Amarthathor and Meleath gave him, Rannoch was reclaimed two years earlier than what the game showed, mainly because of the UAP's intervention and an unexpected attack on the migrant fleet that nearly caused the species' extinction.

Large beads of sweat trickled down the Quarian's forehead, a few drops reaching his mouth as he tasted the salty water staining his tongue, hefting the huge sword in an offensive stance against the Dwarven warrior before him.

Having barely managed to keep up with the Dwarf's surprising agility despite his heavy armor, he sluggishly swung his sword in a wide arc overhead, clumsilly leaving himself wide open to his opponent who smirked when he saw the Quarian's posture.

With barely any effort, he rolled out of the trajectory of the huge sword and knocked him to the ground with a bash of his shield, controlling his strength to avoid accidentally injuring his sparring partner.

Uninterested in watching the sparring any further, Toby went on to find the ship's armory, where a blacksmith would outfit him with weapons and armor of choice; he had initially objected to even arming himself, explaining that he was not a soldier, but when confronted with the Dragonkin's reasoning that he would have to fight to survive sooner or later, he reluctantly agreed, regretting his choice.

Paying close attention to any sign that may guide him to the armory, he did not notice the Dark Elven man before him, and collided with him in short order.

Having the air taken out of him, he dropped to the cold metal floor with a thump, his attention span slightly dazed momentarily.

"Forgive my listlessness, I did not see you approaching," The Dark Elf apologized, extending a hand to the man before him.

Toby would have apologized, but he simply decided to accept his apology and took the hand, rubbing his bum as he stood up from where he fell.

"Could you be the new Human that was found on Haestrom, perhaps?" The Dark Elf inquired, bringing Toby's attention to him.

The Dark Elf himself had rather slender features, his long silvery hair tied in a long ponytail that dropped past his shoulders. Tribal patterns and sigils dotted his left arm as crimson tatoos, extending all the way to his wrist that was partially covered by his worst-long gloves.

His outfit was that of a simple blacksmith; a dark, sleeveless indigo skinsuit hugging his slightly masculine figure and showing the muscles underneath, an assortment of different smithing hammers attached to a belt on his waist.

Inspecting the man before him through his chocolate brown orbs, he nodded and then introduced himself, "I am Delsaran Fendithas, this ship's head blacksmith."

Extending a hand towards Toby, the permed man shook it with a smile, happy that he did not have to travel much further to find his quarry.

"My name's Toby, Toby Turner," The youtuber mutually did the same, still smiling despite all that happened to him.

Without further chatter, Delsaran beckoned for Toby to follow him to the armory; for him, it was just another day at the forge, making quality goods for all warriors regardless of social status.

IIOII

"Woah..." Was all Toby could mutter as he set foot in the armory, astounded by the huge array of weapons and vehicles shown before him.

Every single thing a soldier needed, from the most basic of pistols to the most immaculate of blades, everything was being shown on multiple weapon racks that were optimised to use whatever space was avaliable, though their craftsmanship never lost their lustre.

Across the hangar bays, dozens of fighter craft were being tirelessly maintained by countless crews of engineers who inspected every nook and crany of the fighter craft, whilst looking at other vehicles that passed off as tanks, and other sorts of armored vehicles by Toby's standards. And this was only the Thedosian section of the ship, he was informed.

As captivating as it was though, he knew he had to follow Delsaran to his workshop to get his new armor and weapons. The sooner he settled this the better. He was also not particularly fond of getting lost, on a personal note.

The ambience of the place was rather silent, apart from the loud – sometimes excited – chatter between some of the personnel and loud clanking of mechanical parts being refitted onto the various fighter craft or armored vehicles.

Most paid him no mind or curtly nodded at him as they passed by him when he waved to them, going along their daily duties in the ship.

The workshop itself was rather isolated from the main part of the armory, the ambience a lot less noisy save the loud clanging of hammers on red hot pieces of metal, the various blacksmiths of different races beating and banging them into shape.

Small forges powered by electricity churned out heated metal by the tonne, allowing them to devote more time to adding finer details and patterns that would show off their veteran craftsmanship.

Like most personnel in the hangar, they either paid him no mind or simply nodded at him as he entered, focusing on their work before them.

Delsaran eventually reached his own workstation that was slightly larger compared to the others, with a sole Orc manning it with him.

"How is the forge, Zorri?" Delsaran asked, wearing a plain white apron he took from a nearby clothes rack.

The Orc turned to face Delsaran and his new charge, eyeing the Human in a manner that suspiciously looked disdainful. Scoffing, he said, "So we are to arm this milk-drinker for battle?"

Toby looked rather offended at the jab Zorri directed at him, but when Delsaran heard those words, he only smiled.

"Perhaps this milk-drinker shall become a fine warrior in the future," He suggested, making the Orc look at him in a rather quizzical manner.

"You're suggesting that this puny city boy can become a _real_ warrior?" Zorri asked, who only received an incredibly disarming and downright terrifying smile from the Dark Elf before him, making his blood run cold.

Sighing in defeat, he conceded to Delsaran, but not before directing a stern glare at the 'milk-drinker' before him.

"If I find that you have wasted my time forging you armor and weapons, I will be very cross with you," Zorri warned before moving to take a few metal ingots from the nearby crate.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you," Delsaran mentioned, "That is Zorri Rockhammer, my apprentice in training."

Zorri only grunted in response, not looking away from the crate of metal ingots.

"Now that we are here, let us hear your order," Delsaran said, twirling a hammer in his hand, "And what kind of armor or weapon you need is entirely your choice to make."

Toby could only gulp in uncertainty; he had never worn armor before, much less asked for a set to be made for him, and he never even used a weapon – neither a real one or a fake – in his entire life.

But he did hear the Dark Elven blacksmith say that he could decide what qualities his armor would have, and he could do the same thing with his weapon of choice; he sometimes wished he had the capability to cast magic like so many magi in the UAP, and perhaps the tale of 'Wizard Tobuscus' could come to life.

Maybe, he could start right here, add a few new things to his Wizard character – which was sadly not a true one – and rebirth a new Wizard, one who was far more awesome and impressive.

Having thought carefully about his needs, he then told Delsaran his order.

"I'd like my armor to be light, and with as little ornamentation as possible. As for my weapon, just make it something that's light and easy to use, but I don't want something like a dagger or something."

Taking note of every single detail in his order, Delsaran nodded and started getting to work, hammering a red hot metal ingot into shape as he began making Toby's desired armor.

"And one more thing," Toby said, though Delsaran never strayed his eyes from his work, "Where can I get a new cloak or cape or something?"

Placing the hot metal ingot back into the forge, he then told Toby, "For that, you will have to wait until we reach a UAP colony; right now, our next destination is an isolated Heretic Geth station situated just beyond the Perseus Veil."

Toby huffed in disappointment, having to wait for another few days to get his purple cloak.

"Man, I wish this ship had a resident tailor for such a thing," Toby commented, causing Delsaran to chuckle slightly.

"Cloth is not one of the best materials to protect the body, is it?" Delsaran stated, his smile fading as he concentrated on his work, hammering the metal ingot into a shape reminiscent of a sword, "Come back tomorrow, just before lunchtime; I will have your things ready by then."

Toby thanked the Dark Elf, before he went to find the dining hall; it was near lunchtime, and he hated going through the rest of the day on an empty stomach.

In a rather empty room, Meleath and Amarthathor stared out a window into the blackness of space, countless stars spanning the entire length of the void as the Normandy flew alongside them in the distance, it's small frame being dwarfed by it's much larger counterpart.

"Is it really wise to involve that boy in a war that was very well not his?" Meleath questioned, not bothering with any titles or formalities in this moment.

"He will be dragged into this war, sooner or later, and I cannot send him back yet, not with the current state of the time continuum," Amarthathor countered, his eyes carrying heavy sorrow.

He knew that Toby would not want to be a part of a suicide mission, as that boy was not a soldier at heart, and he had a home to go back to, but he did not want to risk yet another temporal displacement forcing him from his home yet again, so the best option was to eliminate the cause of it's instability, and ensure it never happened again.

He hated sending him to his death, but at the same time he could not bear to leave him defenseless and at the hands of the Burning Legion, or any of the UAP's enemies at all.

His mind then drifted to the time when he watched the bright beam of the Gauntlet fire, killing his Father and leaving his mother heartbroken. Only a few years after the end of the Eternal war, she had commited suicide by drinking poisoned wine, effectively orphaning her three children.

His eyes stung at the memories, and all he could see was his mother's tearful face as she lay motionless before his very eyes, a sad smile gracing her lips at the thought of reuniting with her beloved husband.

Blinking away his tears, he left Meleath alone in the room without saying anything else, the Blood Elven Priest mulling over the mysterious things going on in his head.

IIOII

In a cold, dimly lit part of the _Normandy_ , a Blood Elf lay still and motionless, the only audible sound being his rhythmic breathing as he meditated with his eyes closed, the scent of aromatic candles filling his senses as he attempted to achieve inner peace.

Meditating in such a serene mood, he was only brought out of his tranquil state when he heard footsteps approaching his spot, his emerald glowing eyes seeing Commander Shepard enter the room.

"Have a few minutes to talk?" Shepard asked, to which he wordlessly nodded and got up from his meditative position.

Placing the candles on a nearby table, he took out a chair for Shepard to sit on, the Spectre appreciating his hospitality as she sat down, waiting for him as he went to get a boiling kettle from a nearby induction stove.

"Please wait while I get a cup of tea for you, Commander," Welearis said, leaving Shepard with some time to think to herself.

After about a half a minute, Welearis returned with a tea set consisting of an artistically decorated teapot adorned with alphabets of the Blood Elf's native tongue, the two teacups filled to the brim with brownish tea.

Taking a small sip of the tea, she slowly savoured the taste and found the strong flavour to be unusually refreshing, the warm sweetness permeating her body and allowing her to feel pure bliss for a few moments.

"That was some good tea you made," Shepard commented as Welearis enjoyed his drink in the same manner as the Spectre did.

"It is, isn't it?" The Blood Elf said, "Honeymint tea, a popular favourite amongst many in the UAP for tea breaks or meals."

They continued drinking their tea in silence, the long silence beffiting of the calm mood that only served to enhance the flavour of the tea more as they forgot about all their troubles in this moment, though it was not a romantic moment, to the casual observer's disappointment.

Setting down her half-full teacup, she then asked, "So mind telling me about how monks usually fight?"

Smiling at her question, Welearis was more than happy to indulge her curiosity.

"Monks are our equivalent of what your kind would call martial artists, or 'kung fu' experts as some would say," He patiently explained, channeling jade green energy into his arm, "Like them, we make use of channeling out this inner energy called 'chi' into our strikes and make them lethally dangerous, a mere fist or kick becoming able to smash through bones and flesh, and train ourselves to be strong, yet agile fighters akin to rouges."

Shepard nodded, "And I'm wondering how do you UAP guys maintain so much tradition even with advancing technology."

Welearis only smiled in return, saying, "Truthfully, even though we recognise the power of technology, blades and magic are some of many things we cannot bear to forget; it is akin to forgetting a part of our identity, our soul and pride. As for the bows, that is something most Thedosians or some of us Azerothians still use, for tradition's sake."

"And, admittedly, it is also because some of us still cannot get used to the recoil of firearms, causing some rather... hilarious and unwanted incidents," Welearis mentioned, causing Shepard to chuckle slightly.

"So how's everything in the UAP? Anything new?" The Spectre inquired.

Welearis only shrugged, "Other than the massive Asari protests at Turian embassies in their space, and the huge increase in merchant traffic at Omega, I can confidently say there is nothing else of interest, though only time will tell."

After a rather entertaining talk with Shepard, even though he was equally happy with meditating in silence, the Spectre then proceeded to leave Welearis alone, though not before answering his question.

"May I ask why did you wish to chat with me?"

She only replied, "Because I prefer knowing those under my command more closely, and I hate wasting my free time doing nothing but sit on my ass and watching TV."

Laughing heartily, almost shedding tears of joy, he wiped his eyes and commented, "You know, you are the first Alliance soldier to actually amuse me to this extent."

"I have a bad habit of doing such things," Shepard smiled unrepentantly, before leaving Welearis alone, heading to another part of the Normandy, namely the training area where two of her new teammates were sparring with each other with almost the whole crew witnessing the match.

The whole room was spacious enough to fit a few dozen people, allowing Chapter Master Angelos to eye the practice match with scrutiny, trying to gauge the capabilities of the fighters on the arena below the spectator seats.

The Protoss were present, along with the two Turians and Tali herself, and Legion as well – surprisingly – and most of the Cerberus crew personnel who had temporarily stopped their work to watch the spectacle.

When she leaned over the railing, she could see Venia expertly parrying Grunt's attacks with her shield or rolling around them, banging her sword and shield together as she taunted the Krogan with a mischevious smile, causing him to roar in annoyance.

"Come at me, Grunt!" Venia shouted, banging her shield once more, "Show me what you got!"

Raising his hammer, he swung it overhead down onto Venia, missing her by inches as she dodged it yet again, posing for a decisive strike.

This time, the Krogan was forced on the defensive as Venia began battering Grunt with a flurry of precise strikes aimed for his vital organs, though she was visibly holding back, given her characteristic insane strength and agility.

Even though the Dragonkin was holding back, though, Grunt seemed to be fairing well under the assault, deftly blocking the blade with the haft of his hammer and letting the head rest on the floor to allow for easier blocking.

However, the assault was rather relentless on Venia's part, causing the Krogan much difficulty in maintaining his defense.

For a moment, it looked like the Krogan would wither under the endless assault, as Venia had incredible stamina fuelling her attacks, but then he managed to exploit an opportunity that presented itself before his eyes.

He ducked under a horizontal swing from the Dragonkin's sword, then positioned the bottom of the haft in front of his body, then thrust it foward, knocking a little bit of air out of the Dragonkin as she staggered backwards slightly, the hit having landed directly on her solar plexis.

As she recovered, she could only smile at the Krogan who smirked trumphantly in return.

"Not bad, I see," Venia commented as she readjusted her stance, "Not bad at all."

If Grunt was a disciplined warrior, he would have taken it as a compliment and fought harder.

Unfortunately, he let those words go to his head, and then made a daring move that cost him dearly. He ran straight for Venia, ready to collide his body on hers, when she deftly moved out of the way, flashing him a smirk of her own that made the Krogan's eyes widen in realization.

Charging with full momentum, he stupidly allowed himself to be subject to inertia as he was unable to stop himself from colliding with the wall, and then falling on his back in a daze as he began mumbling incoherent language from his mouth.

The sight was comical for all to see, even Shepard was laughing slightly at the dazed Krogan; the poor man would be hopelessly embarassed in front of all his teammates and fellow Krogan kinsmen for days to come; Gabriel was not laughing at all somehow, though no one paid it any mind.

"That's it for today, then," Venia said as she sheathed her sword, carrying Grunt on her shoulder in an incredible display of strength, "You can all go back to work now."

Some grumbled complaints about the fight being too short, but they all nonetheless dispersed from the arena and went back to their stations.

Since she had nothing better to do before they reached the Heretic station – by request of Legion, who chose to volunteer itself for the mission – in less than a day's time, she settled for inspecting her new armor and weapons provided to her by Cerberus; she was unsure if the UAP would trust her with their technology so easily, and she felt more comfortable using tech she was familiar with anyway.

If she had paid more attention, though, she would have noticed a mischeviously smiling woman cloaking herself with an invisibility field as she snuck around the ship, disappearing from sight.

IIOII

In an isolated part of Turian space, a Turian scientist could only wait with a mixture of trepidation and uncertainty as he waited for the efforts of the Hierarchy's new project to bear fruit.

Days of research and technological advancements have all led to this moment. If this project were to be successful after all the blood, sweat and tears spilled, it would mark not just a technology milestone for the Hierarchy as a whole, but also a historical and social one as well, something that would permanently change Turian society.

Of course, the rigid Asari would definitely come knocking on their doorstep and protest such a thing, saying that it was all sorts of bad things, calling it heresy, abomination, whatever they wished to name it.

But it did not matter; none of it mattered at all. The only thing that mattered was whether this whole project was fruitful at all.

He would soon receive an answer, when a projector on the table lit up brightly, blue pixels of light morphing into the shape of a Turian avatar.

This was it. This was what the Hierarchy had been waiting for, the creation of its first ever Artificial Intelligence. If it were a success, it would pave the way to more Turian being created for future use in both civil life and military wars.

The Turian AI before him was modeled after a Blackwatch operative, slim-fit black armor covering his body, though he had no need of such a thing, with an extra white sash draped across its torso.

Gulping in uncertainty, he straightened himself as the AI asked The Question in a monotonous, synthetic voice that nearly sent the scientist running.

"Who am I?" It asked.

"You are Tarkus," The scientist said, barely keeping his raging emotions out of his voice, "You are an AI created to serve the Hierarchy onboard its newest ship, the Indomitable Light, and work to operate all of it's systems at full capacity."

For a moment, the AI stayed eerily silent, almost making the Turian reconsider going through with this project.

Then, the new AI's voice changed to that of a pleasant male Turian voice, any sort of subharmonics absent in every syllable.

"Seems like a new opportunity to excel, and to serve my creators," It mused, a Turian equivalent of a smile gracing its mandibles, "Where do I start?"

Upon hearing those words, the scientist went into a near hysterical fit of laughter, releasing whatever fear was still in his heart.

The project had finally paid off.

The AI was alive, and it was friendly. No, _he_ was friendly.

 **A/N: Hooray for the Hierarchy's new AI! This will certainly turn a few Asari heads and cause quite an upheval, but truthfully, I just like messing with a social order that's just incredibly rigid, at least just in a fictional universe.**

 **So this chapter is a little short compared to most, because things have a bit hectic for me, but I will make sure I update as best as I can for you guys!**

 **So until then, this is Ebanu8.**

 **No slaver shall live after being slain like the cowards they are!**


	11. War beyond the Veil, part I

**SpecH82:** I didn't say anything about the fate of the Master Chief, so you will have to continue staying updated on this story to find out more.

 **Guest(mehungry1):**...Okay, I don't know what you mean, but should I say thanks or not?

 **Chapter ten: War beyond the Veil, part I**

Toby awoke with a loud yawn the next morning, or day, whatever it was ; It became so difficult to tell the time when he had to stare at an endless black void dotted with stars everytime he woke up, starting from yesterday.

It was rather hard to get used to living in a whole new universe, especially when he had to adapt to using unfamiliar technology; he was at least thankful that most of the ship's crew largely spoke English, though in some cases they drifted into their native tongue during a conversation.

He looked at the clock next to his bed, the displayed time being a few minutes past eight in the morning, the time when he had the first meal of the day.

Stretching his arms, he made his way to the mess hall, where several hundreds of people were already queing up to collect their meals from the different counters.

The mess hall was incredibly large, at least two decks high with over a hundred tables and chairs, and more than two dozen cooks sweating heavily as they churned out plate upon plate of food for the hungry soldiers and other crew members, never complaining about the scale of their job.

Unsure where to start, he simply grabbed a tray for himself and joined the nearest queue, immediately regretting his decision when he joined the longest queue out of all of them.

He got a few stares from some of those closer to him in the queue, mainly because of his clothing or the spreading news about the new stranger onboard their ship, but otherwise paid it no mind, much to Toby's relief.

Eventually, when it was his turn to collect his food, the Elven chef behind the counter passed him a bowl of noodles in a thin, near-transparent broth with an assortment of vegtables on top and a fresh sunny-side up egg on top, a pair of chopsticks and a glass of water accompanying the bowl.

Not wanting to hog up the queue, he sat down at the nearest table with an empty seat, and whether by chance or by design, he happened to be seating with Delsaran and his apprentice Zorri, Meleath, and a Dwarf who Toby never met before, though the strange thing was that Meleath and the Dwarf were both wearing their armor at the dining table, which was considered rather awkward to many, the Council citizens included.

Unsure on how to join the lively conversation between the four, he focused on eating his vegetarian noodles, which tasted surprisingly refreshing and stirred his appitite for more; he was enjoying it so much that he was unconsciously slurping very loudly, but when he realised he was doing so, he saw many others doing the same thing, though most of the Elves refrained from such table manners.

"So I hear you're the new guy," The Dwarf commented, then extended a hand to him, "Lieutenant Bhaledon Hammerriver, at your service."

"Name's Toby, Toby Turner," Toby shook the hand, "I don't mean any offense, but why wear your armor in a mess hall?"

"Bad habits, when you wage war for a long time," Bhaledon shrugged, chugging his soup down his throat.

"And my armor, Delsaran?" Toby asked the Dark Elf, who did not look up from his meal, "How much longer until it's ready?"

Looking up from his meal, he told Toby with a blank face, "You will have to wait for another two hours for me to apply the finishing touches."

Nodding in response, Toby continued to eat his meal in silence, finding the delicious meal to be one of the good things about landing in a foreign place.

Finishing earlier than everyone else, he wiped his mouth clean and decided that, since it would be a while before the others were done with their meals, he settled for waiting patiently in his seat, the ambience of the place surprisingly relaxing, one of the few things that came close to a comfort of his home.

After only about a few minutes, when most had finished eating, Meleath got Toby's attention by tapping his shoulder, "Meet me at the training hall later; you will need some basic skills to handle your new weapon."

Toby nodded; he did not like the idea of fumbling around with something he did not know how to use.

IIOII

After about a few minutes of traversing the winding, chaotically designed maze of corridors, Toby finally managed to find the training hall that Meleath told him about, realising that it was the same place he passed by on his way to the armory.

When he was just about to enter the place itself, he was stopped by an outstretched three-fingered hand grabbing his arm.

Turning his face, he saw a Quarian in exotically designed silver armor, a large Quarian-styled zweihandler strapped to his back and resting over his indigo cloak, Toby not recognising that it was the same Quarian he saw training in the place yesterday.

"Are you new here?" The Quarian inquired, not relenting in his grip over the Human's arm.

"Yeah, so what's it to you?" Toby asked, not intimidated by the Quarian's appearance in the slightest.

Sighing as if he was talking to a child, the Quarian then explained after letting go of Toby's arm, "It's standard procedure to get your armor and weapons ready before going inside; a lot of accidents have happened in the past due to most foregoing their protection, and I don't want to see the same happen to you."

Toby shuddered at the thought of being roasted alive by stray fires or electrocuted during his training session, and nearly reconsidered even coming here in the first place.

"But I don't even have my own armor and weapons; how can I get inside then?" Toby inquired.

The Quarian then outstretched his arm to a nearby room, gesturing for Toby to enter. When he did, he was greeted by yet another fascinating sight.

Rows upon rows of weapons ranging from swords to hammers lay neatly displayed on sturdy weapon rack, various suits of armor arranged in the same orderly fashion as the weapons, the silvery metal gleaming in the crystaline light.

When he asked about the lack of any ranged weaponry, the Quarian then explained, "The training hall is only for improving close combat and short-range magic; you'd have to go elsewhere if you want to train stronger magic or marksmanship."

He then extended a hand. "Kal'Reegar, newest addition to the Silver Knights of Ethrandir. Sorry for the rough introduction, by the way."

Toby shook it in return. "Toby Turner, pretty much the same status as you, though I'm surprised you managed to use such a big ass sword like that."

Seeing where Toby's finger was pointing, Kal'Reegar only shrugged, "Still have quite a bit of trouble handling the huge sword, but I'll get the hang of it."

After choosing some rather light armor and a slender longsword to use for training, Toby was rather embarassed at how much he was fumbling with how to wear his armor right in front of Reegar's eyes, causing him to chuckle heartily.

Deciding to show him some clemency and spare him further embarassment, Reegar proceeded to help Toby don his armor, the layered metal plates surprisingly fitting Toby's lean form; the Human had assumed that the armor was meant for one with much muscle on his body.

Once he had managed to fit his armor, he followed Kal'Reegar through the training hall, passing by many Thedosian soldiers who were busy sparring with their chosen partners and perfecting their craft in the arts of war.

When Toby saw Meleath, he thanked Kal'Reegar for helping him with his armor-fitting, and made his way towards the Blood Elven priest waiting for him, and saw that he was wearing some armor of his own, a gleaming golden, runic sword in his left hand, and a long staff in the other.

"I assume you are ready to learn the basics of swordwielding?" Meleath asked, to which Toby nodded, albeit hesitantly.

Unsure of how to properly hold a sword, Meleath instructed him to simply hold the sword with both hands, sheathing his own sword as he inspected Toby's grip on the weapon.

When he saw that his hands were trembling, Meleath quickly snatched it from Toby's hands with little trouble, the suddeness of the whole thing causing him to fall on his bum.

Rubbing his aching bum in subdued agony, Toby got up after being helped by his Elven instructor, who then handed him back his training sword.

"What was that for?" Toby asked, almost scowling at him for snatching his weapon.

"Your grip on your weapon is far too weak, so your enemies will have no difficulty knocking it out of your hands," Meleath explained, Toby accepting the reasoning in his words, "Before we proceed to actual sword techniques, you will have to improve your grip first and foremost."

The next two hours were spent teaching Toby the fundamentals in swordwielding, though it was mostly training his grip and correcting his stances for different situations in battle, whether it be offensive or defensive.

All the while, Toby felt like he was training in hell, finding swordwielding to be much harder than what all the medieval-fantasy shows and movies such as The Hobbit or 300 showed him, though he knew that the actors also had to spend a lot of time practicing their fighting skills.

Large beads of sweat trickled down his skin, a few drops imparting their salty taste onto his tongue; moving around in full-body armor was much harder as well, compared to simply wearing a body vest over his uniform back in his time in the US army, despite not having moved on to actual swordfighting.

It was partially due to Meleath testing his posture by intentionally kicking his leg – albeit soft enough to avoid hurting him – or by lightly pushing him on the chest. Each time, Toby stumbled and fell. Each time, he helped up Toby with a gentle smile, making it impossible for Toby to hold a grudge against him.

After what seemed like an hour, Toby finally managed to achieve a proper grip and stance beffiting of a warrior, much to Meleath's pleasure.

"Now that you have suitable posture and grip, we can finally move on to the actual swordfighting," He said, elicting a triumphant smile from his student.

"Damnit... finally, after so long..." Toby wheezed out, tired from constantly falling on the ground.

Seeing his tired state, Meleath allowed him to take a short break, to Toby's relief.

Sitting down on a nearby bench, he gulped down his water to quench his raging thirst, and was soon joined by Kal'Reegar and a Qunari woman who towered over Toby by more than half a feet, wearing a black cloak shrouding her features and armor underneath, the only visible parts being half of her face and strands of her silvery hair, a pair of horns absent from her head.

On her sides were a pair of ebony black shortswords sheathed in scabbards of similar colour, adorned with gold trimmings and glowing runes of power.

Toby could have sworn that the runes were actually whispering inaudible words in his mind.

Flinching slightly under the shadow cast by her large, yet surprisingly slender figure, Toby could only murmur in surprise.

"Woah, you're big."

The Qunari's shrouded face turned to Toby, who looked on the verge of inching away from her, but surprisingly did not, elicting a rather eerie smile from her face as she finished the last drops of water in her flask.

Placing down her flask, she curtly nodded as she said, "I have not seen you before, have I?"

Shaking his head, Toby answered, as if sensing the unasked question, "No, new here, and I'm not from around these parts. By the way, my name's Toby Turner."

Nodding in satisfaction, the Qunari woman then introduced herself, "Yasayar of the Silent Marauders, at your service, Master Turner."

Toby raised an eyebrow. "Silent Marauders?"

Yasayar then explained, "The Silent Marauders are one of the more renowned vigilante bands operating throughout the galaxy, and one of the oldest, hunting down criminal bands, slavers and other vagabonds the Empire has narrowed down over the millennia."

The Human sputtered on his water upon hearing it. " _Millennia?_ That long?"

"You should know that the Empire has lasted for far longer than the Silent Marauders themselves, Master Turner," Yasayar pointed out, making the trainee swordsman feel awkward by her manner of adressing him.

"Um, don't mean any offense, but could you just call me Toby? You know, without the Master title or something?" Toby asked, causing Yasayar to laugh.

"And how else shall I address you, _Master_ Turner?" Yasayar teased with a smile, causing Toby to groan slightly.

"So why are you here with the Knights here? Thought you would stick with the rest of your Order?" Toby asked out of curiosity.

"The Grand Master of my Order has ordered that I observe these Knights for the time being, try to gather any information that may be of concern to the other Knightly Orders or Vigilante bands," Yasayar answered, her smile fading, "I wish there were others of my band with me here, I miss their company."

Toby nodded, albeit sadly; he was isolated from his friends back on Earth, _his_ Earth, and he currently had no way to go back home, perhaps he would never have a way to go back. Ever.

He envied Yasayar in that sense; at least she had a way to contact her friends and commrades and go back to them, or help them find her.

"Anyway, I think I've rested enough, I'm going back to training," Toby said, then turned to Kal'Reegar, "Think we'll get to talk again later?"

Toby had actually taken a liking to Kal'Reegar, other than being one of the few non-Thedosians to not talk in such a shakespearean manner. His relatively friendly attitude and willingness to aid a friend in need proved to be more welcoming than the fearsome, sometimes stern expressions of most Thedosians.

With a broad smile, Kal'Reegar eagerly replied, "Definitely, when we're away from danger."

Just then, a green-skinned Orc approached the three of them, Toby recognising him as Zorri.

"Delsaran says that your armor is complete," Zorri informed him, "Better come over to finallise whatever customisations you want, so he says."

Nodding, Toby told Reegar and Yasayar, "Sorry guys, gotta go. Be seeing you later!"

As Toby rushed off, Yasayar said offhandedly to Reegar, "He seems to be a promising soldier, if not a leader."

"I still wish he didn't have to go to war just like that," Reegar said out of symphathy, "This isn't his war, after all."

"He will not have any say in the matter when the true enemy reveals itself," Yasayar pointed out, drawing her swords for training, "When it does, it matters not where one hides, for no one is safe as long as they live."

Hearing the extremely icy and hateful tone in which she described the impending danger, gripping her sword so tightly her grey-skinned knuckles almost turned white, sent chilling shivers down the Quarian's spine, who knew exactly who Yasayar was refering to as the enemy.

Exactly how terrifying and dangerous was the Burning Legion, that made the UAP hate them with such cold and bitter hatred?

That was something Reegar was afraid to know.

IIOII

After making his way to the armory, thankfully remembring the way towards the place, he found that Delsaran was busy inspecting his latest masterpiece; a suit of multi-layered, silver armor with black trimmings, a balanced compromise between agility and hard protection.

Beside his anvil lay a slender, guardless elvish sword with golden amber runes of power, it's silver colour gleaming in the fiery orange light of the hot forge.

"I see that you have arrived, Master Turner," Toby heard the Dark Elf address him, "Please inspect my work and see if it's to your satisfaction."

As Toby checked the armor, evaluating the craftsmanship that made it, every part of his mind told him that the armor by itself was already so immaculate and finely crafted, Delsaran's request seemed like a childish one; why need to check such a masterpiece for any discrepancies at all? It simply made no sense to him.

Though if that armor were to be given to any other soldier or general within the Empire, or perhaps the Coalition – if he remembered correctly, were two of the strongest powers within the UAP, it was probably justified that they would want something more to make it feel complete in their eyes.

The sword was also fine on it's own, only needing a scabbard for it to rest in.

Nodding in satisfaction, Toby confidently told the Dark Elven Blacksmith, "No need to change anything, it's all okay."

"Then I suggest you begin getting used to wielding your new weapon before battle," Delsaran suggested, immediately going back to his work, "I would hate for you to waste my hard work if you damage it beyond repair."

Nodding his thanks, Toby made his way back to the training hall, where he continued to learn basic sword techniques and the practicalities of implementing them in a real battle, the lightness and flexibility of his new sword making it far easier than he thought.

It continued for the next two hours, with a short lunch break in-between and some light refreshments afterwards, until the ship's sound system rang loudly once again, everyone's attention being focused on the announcement being made by ship control.

" _Attention all Knights,_ " Toby heard the announcer say, his deep baritone voice almost making Toby recognise it briefly, " _We will be arriving beyond the Perseus Veil in less than a few minutes. All personnel are to report to battle stations within the hour, and ready whatever battle provisions they will need soon. May Yggdrasil bless our endeavours._ "

When the sound system cut off, Toby could see all the Knights who had previously been focused on training suddenly rush off towards wherever their battle stations were, quickly moving to shower first to rid the stench of sweat from their bodies, then reequip whatever equipment they had, performing all these actions with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine.

Dwarves, Elves, Qunari, Humans, Dragonkin, all who had volunteered for a previously secretive mission whilst faking news about their deaths or disappearances were now part of a new Knightly Order, ready to bring swift, harsh judgement on the hated Heretics who betrayed their masters and sided with an old enemy.

Standing in line with the rest of the ship's crew, whether by chance or by design, Toby was standing right next to Kal'Reegar himself and Yasayar, with a group of silver armored Quarian Knights wielding the same type of sword as Reegar did, which were currently sheathed on their backs and held in place by large metallic scabbards.

Toby had to refrain from fidgeting where he stood; the tension in the atmosphere was so thick it could cut through the air, making him swallow his saliva out of fear.

As if sensing his growing fear, Kal'Reegar patted his shoulder, Toby turning his head to face him with widening eyes.

"You alright?" Reegar asked.

Takling deep breaths to calm his nerves, Toby answered, "Not really."

Before they could talk any further, however, all attention turned to Amarthathor, who stood before them garbed in silver armor that gleamed in the crystaline light of the crystal lamps overhead.

With a core of iron in his voice, Amarthathor addressed all of those present before him.

"My fellow Knights, today we strike at the heart of the Heretics' territory. Today, we will show these traitors, that betrayal will not be tolerated by any of us Thedosians or our allies, so long as our honor still stands intact."

"But the Heretics are but one of our many enemies, and should we eliminate one threat, another will become a thorn in our side. That is why we soldiers exist, to stay vigilant and prepared for any impending threat that dares encroach on our borders!"

The Dragonkin's words reached a crescendo, as he delivered his final statement, "So fight! Fight not just for your families, fight not just for your nation, bur fight for your honour, for glory, most of all, fight to let our descendants see yet another day!"

"To Victory!" He roared at the top of his voice, his charismatic personality causing all soldiers to shout in equal determination.

Toby did not join in, however, only mimicking their actions as he steeled his nerves for the inevitable.

The 28th day of Firstfall, or 28th of November on the Human calander, was the day Toby Turner would embark on his maiden battle, with only basic training to help him this round.

He wanted to believe so much that it was a science fantasy drama playing out before his very eyes, to simply watch as the Silver Knights charged the Heretic positions and go foward to victory.

Given the drastic change that took place in this universe, explaining the future events that would happen to Amarthathor became pointless, making him an ordinary outsider mixed into this entire mess.

But he could not despair; he had to survive to go home. No matter what.

IIOII

The Geth patrol ships that guarded the Heretic station in space only had moments to blink before two of their ships fell to bright emerald lances, the _Vengeful Sword's_ laser cannon cutting through their barriers like they were nonexistent.

Not willing to allow the enemy to regain their bearings, the huge Fathership then proceeded to unleash broadsides of missiles and plasma shots from both sides of the ship, eliminating a light score of cruiser-class Geth ships in the process.

The _Normandy_ and it's head pilot refused to be outdone by their counterpart, and so focused on harassing a few of the larger ships with evasive maneuvers and quick, accurate shots made by it's laser defense system, sapphire lasers striking precisely at weakpoints in the enemy ships.

Using the element of surprise, the _Vengeful Sword_ then made a micro-portal jump to reappear beside a Geth Dreadnought, then loosed a swarm of assault pods that unloaded squads of Knights that began flooding the ship on every deck, overwhelming the Dreadnought's crew within minutes of the opening of the battle.

Whilst the Geth were focused on the two ships that broke the blockade surrounding the station, they each launched a shuttle ferrying no more than half a score of warriors in total, making use of the confusion and built-in stealth systems to move in undetected.

For this mission, Shepard had chosen Gabriel Angelos and Welearis to join her for this mission, needing the former's battle experience and the latter's agility to quickly plough their way through the Geth patrols to the main core of the station, where Legion said that he could rewrite the Heretics' programming with new strings of code the Geth Consencus had prepared.

Accompanying them were the Emperor himself, a company of Quarian Greatswords led by Kal'Reegar, Legion and Toby Turner, wearing his newly-made armor that somehow – from his point of view – had all the advanced systems and air supply of a suit of power armor only found in sci-fi novels or movies he usually indulged in.

Toby suspected that Delsaran had actually sent his armor to another part of the ship's armory to fit in all the required systems of his suit of armor without his knowing, on the assumption that he would find out later.

When all Heretic presense had been cleared from Haestrom, the Quarian Republic wasted no time in sending forth additional reclaimation teams to alter the star's radiation, this time with heavier security accompanying every single team; it was rumored that the Republic even contracted the Blademasters of Andarath to handle the job.

And for some strange reason, instead of heading back to his people, or further aiding in the reclaimation efforts, Kal'Reegar and the Quarian marines who survived the onslaught volunteered for the mission, effectively leaving behind their duty to their fellow kinsmen on site.

As for how he actually came to wield his zweihandler, it was through recommendation of one of the surviving magi on the colony, that Reegar and his surviving team were to be made Greatswords.

Greatswords were simply soldiers of the Empire who utilised large swords to cleave armored enemies whilst garbed in full armor, acting as heavy units on the battlefield with rifles as a secondary weapon; Arcanetroopers were more formidable than the Greatswords in terms of versatility and adaptability, but were fewer in number and required more time to train one.

At first Reegar and his fellow Quarians met with some friction between their fellow Knights over being unable to wield such large swords, and not being used to wearing such heavy armor, but with their surprising adaptability, and Reegar's charismatic personality, they managed to reintegrate into their new professions with little trouble.

The _Vengeful Sword's_ shuttle was the first to dock at an opening made in the station's structure, having fired a missile to create an opening, unloading the Emperor and his party before hurridely heading back to dock in the Fathership's docking bay.

Toby was trembling in his armor, nervously holding his assigned rifle with shaky hands that barely kept themselves from dropping it out of fear.

 _A real war..._ This was the thought that raced through Toby's mind over and over again, _A real war's starting right in front of me, and I'm part of it? What the hell!_

He was brought out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder, Toby then facing Kal'Reegar who stood beside him.

"Nervous?" Reegar asked, to which Toby wordlessly nodded.

"I'm nervous too, and so are the rest of us," Reegar pointed out, though the other Quarian Greatswords weren't shaking as much as Toby did, "But we're here now, and we can't turn back."

Such words did little to assuage Toby's fears, but he decided to stick around for now.

Following the Silver Knights' company were Shepard and her chosen companions, their shuttle also making it's way back to the _Normandy_ in quick fashion.

When Shepard noticed the Quarian Greatswords accompanying Amarthathor, Reegar among them, Shepard could not help but be surprised, the only sign it being a raised eyebrow.

"Wow, never thought I'd see Quarians going in Thedosian-styled equipment," Shepard commented, causing Amarthathor to scoff at that.

"The more elite soldiers of the Empire are far more impressive than them," Amarthathor replied, though there was no underlying disdain in his voice.

"The Space Marines are more than adequate in matching these Knights in splendour and appearance," Gabriel added offhandedly, hefting his massive hammer, "But I hardly believe we have time to waste on pointless chatter."

A slug flew past Amarthathor, alerting the party to approaching Heretic Geth brandishing their weapons against them.

Drawing their rifles, the Greatswords were the first to retaliate, firing bright pulses of sapphire blue at the Heretics which completely bypassed their kinetic barriers and reduced their exoskeletons to scrap metal.

Firing an arrow that took a Geth's head, Amarthathor said with a sadistic smile, "I must agree with you, Master Angelos. We have little time to spend on meaningless banter!"

Shepard shook her head, never being able to understand the mindset of these two, then drew her Exso rifle loaned to her from the Silver Knights, placing three accurate headshots on Geth shock troopers before they even managed to fire their rocket launchers.

Roaring battle cries, the party charged the Geth patrols throughout the station, though they were more numerous and armed with heavier weaponry compared to last they invaded a Geth stronghold, making their mission much harder than before.

Still, they were not discouraged; rather, they fought harder to achieve their objective, inching closer to the main station's control core with every Geth they eliminate.

Welearis was controlled calamity, unleashing his martial arts on the Heretics that pummeled their forms into nothing but scrap metal, astonishing the Quarian Greatswords and Shepard who watched him whilst focusing on the enemy. Shepard was focused discipline, not expending more energy than necessary. Gabriel was barely restrained fury, promising the abominations righteous judgement.

Toby tried his hardest to not cave in from stress when the Geth first encountered them. But once they fired, his instincts and training took over, compensating for his poor accuracy with his unrelenting firing rate that taxed his rifle's coolant systems, hot steam pouring out of his weapon with a loud hiss.

As he did not have adequate experience in gunfights, Toby was bound to make mistakes, and his first one was allowing himself to be an open target, his instincts being his only saving grace as he narrowly avoided a slug which would have turned his head to paste.

He was a mess of emotions, though his fear and stress were being suppressed by pure instincts and loss of cohesion in his line of thoughts, his companions' voices falling on deaf ears around him.

Even as the Geth around them lay motionless, Toby remained trapped in his own world, instincts dulling everything else around him.

Until he was violently broken free by a hard punch to the gut, his breath taken out of his lungs as Amarthathor prevented his body from curling on the floor in pain.

"Focus, Toby," Amarthathor chided the Human, "Do not allow your instincts to control your every moment and senses."

Taking the time to catch his breath, Toby realised the meaning of the Emperor's words, and apologised, "Sorry, Amarthathor. Won't happen again."

"Show me then," Amarthathor said, before cleaving a Geth prime in half with his axe, Gabriel smashing the head of another with his massive hammer, a look of disdain and absolute hate plastered onto his face.

Using the momentum they gained by surprising the Heretics, they pushed onwards deeper into the station, carving a path with tremendous force on their side.

IIOII

The space battle was largely in the invading party's favour, with superior technology and the element of surprise compensating for their lack of numbers to balance the odds against the Geth ships.

With the _Vengeful Sword_ acting as the main attention-grabber to draw the Geth away from the _Normandy_ , it continued the onslaught with rows of pylon turrets focusing beams of sapphire light on the Geth ships, lances of plasma easily cutting through the framework of the Geth ships alongside volleys of missiles and energy pulses.

Joker could not help but watch in absolute amazement at the ease in which the Vengeful Sword was dispatching the Heretic ships, while his AI companion, EDI, appeared next to him in a projection of light.

" _Mr Moreau, I have to say, I am rather impressed by the technology of the_ Vengeful Sword _,_ " She informed him.

"Maybe not now, EDI? I'm trying to pilot this baby in the middle of a space fight?" Joker suggested, frantically tapping away at the holographic controls of the ship.

EDI was, in all honesty, the very first AI to be created from Eezo technology, using whatever resources and research developments that Cerberus amassed over the years under the guidance of their leader, the Illusive man.

Her given name was a shortened version of her real name, which was 'Enhanced Defense Intelligence', as a testament to her capabilities in cyberwarfare should any one else try to hack the _Normandy's_ systems.

Though they were still untested as of yet, there would be plenty of opportunities to bring out her full capabilities, one of them being right now, in the fight against the Heretic Geth that were mercilessly assaulting the Fathership's shielding to no effect.

A force rocketed the ship, nearly causing Joker to fall out of his seat and most of the crew to lose their bearings, which would be problematic for the pilot given his medical condition.

"What the hell was that, EDI!?" Joker cursed, regaining control of the ship after a brief moment of surprise.

" _Mr Moreau, apparently a few Geth ships have managed to get a lucky hit on our ship, and our kinetic barriers have barely managed to hold together from a torpedo blast,_ " EDI explained in a monotonous voice.

"Maybe tell me next time!?" Joker suggested, refocusing on the battle in front of him.

Back on the station, Geth patrols were being slaughtered left and right by the indomitable hammer that was the Emperor's party, Shepard slashing away yet another Geth trooper with her orange omni-blade.

Her form of fighting, borne of years of experience on the battlefield, had once again reaffirmed Amarthathor's belief that aiding her in her mission was the right choice, and if he had the chance, he would try to train her in the arts of combat Thedosians used for millennia.

He found it such a waste that the Systems Alliance disowned her association with Cerberus, just to conveniently protect their empty pride, though he did not completely trust infamous supremacist organisation either.

The battle seemed to be coming to a head when they unexpectedly encountered a huge blockade awaiting them at the upper levels, pinning down the party behind hastily erected magical barrier on Amarthathor's part, giving them a form of respite under the endless hail of slugs pelting their position.

Unfortunately, the door behind them closed shut, Taenith unable to override the locking controls from within the Emperor's helmet.

" _Curses!_ " The AI swore loudly, " _I cannot override the lock controls on the door! The Heretics should not be capable of such a thing!_ "

"And what does that mean, AI?" Gabriel demanded, firing a few shots from his bolt pistol, killing a Geth hunter, "I thought you said these Heretics were inferior to your capabilities?"

" _I did, Master Angelos,_ " Taenith bit back, the Blood Raven unflinching from the AI's annoyed demeanour, " _Either they have something else blocking me from the main controls or... oh, Sossedov damnit._ "

"What in the name of Yggdrasil is happening, Taenith?" Amarthathor demanded, loosing an arrow onto a Geth's head, killing it instantly.

" _It's the Reapers, Emperor,_ " Taenith muttered darkly, then materialising in his physical form to join the fight, "They have us surrounded in this damn place!"

Legion, hearing the news from Taenith, immeidately began relaying the information to the two ships outside, hoping it would make them better prepared for the incoming ambush.

His hopes were misplaced.

In space, more than a dozen Reaper ships appeared from the nearby mass relay, along with a few Collector and Heretic ships that surrounded the two ships in short order, the _Vengeful Sword_ scrambling it's fighters in a defiant, desperate counterattack.

It only managed to buy them some time, to a certain degree, as the Reapers deployed fighters of their own, sheer numbers swarming the technologically superior Knights within minutes.

While the _Vengeful Sword_ could withstand a few direct hits from a Reaper's main laser cannon – which were actually superheated pieces of tungsten fired at relativistic speeds, the shielding could only withstand so much force before it overloaded, leaving the ship's main hull vulnerable to further attacks.

The _Normandy_ was worse off than it's UAP counterpart; with only it's kinetic barriers that were pitifully weak against a Reaper cannon, and a few Gardian laser defense systems that could hardly penetrate a Reaper's barriers, it could do nothing but thin the horde of Reaper fighters to alieviate the pressure on it's counterpart, hoping it can take out the capital ships to soften the odds.

With news that their only way out was being threatened by a direct ambush, the party fought harder than ever, the Quarian Greatswords fighting not simply to win, but to survive another day; in this situation, the only way to live is through nothing less than absolute victory.

Even Toby was giving it his all, using even the smallest amount of reprive that he gained to return fire against the Heretic Geth.

Beside him, he saw a Rocket trooper taking aim at Shepard, putting her position in danger as he did not know whether her kinetic barriers were down or still operational.

Not taking any chances, he bellowed to one of the Quarian Greatswords, "Cover me!"

Hearing him, the Quarian then focused covering fire to keep the Geth pinned down at their positions while Toby charged from his position and rammed his sword right into the Geth's heart, making it unceremoniously drop his rocket launcher to the floor.

Toby then had an idea cross his mind; picking up the rocket launcher – making sure he was aiming it correctly, he then took a wild guess in his aim then fired at a random Geth position, hitting a far more vulnerable target than a Geth prime.

A cluster of Geth explosives.

A chain reaction of explosives rocked the Geth ranks, the machines momentarily disoriented as the invading party renewed their assault against the Heretic Geth.

Machine fought organic, as slug after slug clashed with lasers, pulses of plasma and blade and magic, the fresh Quarian Greatswords quickly proving themselves as they left a trail of Geth bodies in the wake of their attack.

Launching a biotic attack on a Geth prime, the poor machine stood no chance as it was instantly disintegrated by the power of her new Exso biotics, the Spectre herself impressed by the ease with which she conjured the Warp.

 _I really have to give these Thedosian guys some credit,_ Shepard thought to herself as she inserted a new ammo clip into her rifle, _They know their stuff about genetic engineering._

IIOII

Toby was still incredibly nervous as his party continued towards the main station core, where Legion would be able to rewrite the Heretics' programming and hopefully make them reconsider allying themselves with the Reapers.

They had only one chance for it to work; should it fail, the Geth programming would evolve to block out any further rewriting attempts, effectively making the Heretics beyond redemption.

He did not notice he was sweating heavily until a drop reached his lips, imparting it's salty taste onto his tongue.

He sorely wished for a respite to take off his helmet and wipe his sweat, the stress of battle starting to take it's toll on his mind and body, muscles and bones becoming strained from constant recoil from his gun and swinging his sword continuously.

Yet fate chose not to show clemency to him, and their position was continually assaulted by ranks of Geth that reinforced their position across the station, impeding the progress of the invading party.

Minutes felt like hours halfway into the assault, the party having started to slow down just when they were within reach of the station's core, defended by a heavy Geth blockade consisting of several primes and hunters aiding the shock troopers.

Having had enough of the Heretics' persistense, Gabriel along with Shepard and Amarthathor, charged the Geth positions with their blades at the ready, smashing a sizeable dent in their defenses.

With righteous fury and boiling anger, the three cleaved apart any Heretic that dared stand in their way, inspiring the Quarian Greatswords to retaliate with equally high zeal, their large swords cutting through Geth bodies like wet paper.

As Shepard spearheaded the assault, she eventually managed to reach inside the station's core, only to find an ambush from within, several Geth troopers already having locked on her position with weapons at the ready.

Cursing for several seconds, she quickly conjured a biotic barrier in her haste, buying her a few precious seconds for help to arrive, the rest of the party clearing the room within seconds of her arrival.

Among the Geth ambushers however, was a giant Geth colossus that towered over the rest of them, it's arms seemingly unfolding themselves to reveal a vast array of weapons that would turn the Quarian Greatswords into mince meat in short order.

Though most of the party managed to scramble for cover in the opening moments of the barrage, two unlucky Quarians were instantly killed by withering barrages of missiles, their advanced shielding giving way under the continuous damage it sustained.

Realising the threat the colossus posed to the party, and unwilling to allow any more casualties on their side than need be, Welearis quickly jumped on the colossus' arm in a great feat of agility, nimbly dodging or deflecting missiles with his staff.

When he reached the colossus' head, instead on using his staff, he curled his hands into fists and began pummeling it with his bare fists, the metal denting with every empowered strike in an impossible feat of strength.

Once the colossus' head was naught but scrap metal, the Blood Elven monk jumped off the colossus, allowing it's lifeless body to crumple to the ground, nonchantly twirling his staff in anticipation as he paid no attention to the astonishment shown on most of the party's faces.

Without wasting anymore time, the party cleared out the room of any remaining Geth ambushers, allowing them to secure the room's entrances to buy time for Legion to perform his task.

With the place secure for now, Legion quickly rushed to the main console in the room, ejecting a data chip from within his body and preparing to insert it inside the console, only for his hand to stop halfway out of hesitance.

As if sensing the surge of emotions within the Geth, Toby went to his side and checked on him.

"Hey, Legion," Toby asked, though the Geth still remained frozen, "You okay?"

For a moment, the Geth did not move an inch, or even utter a single word, still remaining frozen in place as doubt began to swarm his mind, the lack of a face leaving the others guessing what he was feeling.

Legion then finally uttered after a pregnant silence, "I'm unsure if it will work, the Heretic rewriting."

For most, it was somewhat understandable; attempting to rewrite rouge AI that have slain many a Creator was unfathomable, if not outright foolish. When the Geth Consencus suggested trying to rewrite the Heretics in the hopes of bringing them back into their fold, it was met largely with uncertainty on all sides.

Only when High Emperor Amarthathor gave his consent to initiate an experimental project that had next to no chance of success, did the others approve of the project and allow the Geth to proceed, which had all led to this moment.

It seemed so simple; just insert the chip and program it to rewrite the Heretics, and let the fruits of the project perform their job.

Yet, because it was an experimental project, there was such a huge unknown in the certainty as to whether it would succeed, and Legion was unsure whether it would bring the Heretics salvation from their Reaper masters, or simply drive them closer into the Reapers' ranks out of instinct.

Patting Legion on the shoulder, Toby reassured, "Hey, Legion, you wanted to do this, right? You won't know it'll work unless you try, right?"

Legion nodded, to which Toby then said, "Then screw whatever doubts you got in your mind and just go ahead, put it in; no one's forcing you."

Hearing the sound reasoning behind Toby's words, Legion then inserted the chip, then typed a few commands into the console, which then shut off as soon as Legion entered the commands.

"It will take time for the rewriting to take effect, not more than a few hours by estimates," Legion stated, grabbing his rifle, "Now we only wait."

"And I have a feeling I will have to address an entire horde of reporters when we return from this mission," Amarthathor said, his lips pursing in irritation, "We do have to answer for the sudden creation of a new Knightly Order, after all."

"I refuse to mingle with the ilk that these 'Council citizens' call reporters," Gabriel spat on the floor, curling his face in disgust, "It is horrible enough that I am stranded from the Imperium, and now I have to deal with Xenos that will hound us every hour of the day?"

"We will have to see," Amarthathor mused, slinging his bow across his torso.

IIOII

In a large, spacious hall of the govermental headquarters of the Council of Primarchs on Palaven, a group of Turians all took their seats behind elevated podiums that were no more than two feet above the floor, all attention focused on one Turian in the centre.

Said Turian was garbed in immaculate royal blue armor, it's design based on recreated ancient designs documented on Turian history, avian-like pauldrons holding a sapphire blue cape with gold trimmings and letters of Turian script tailored on it, the insignia of a Turian skull with twin hammers crossing each other in an X shape above it.

In his hands was a large hammer encrusted with silver trimmings and strings of Turian script on the head and haft, all glowing a turquoise blue.

One of the Turians asked the one in the centre, "Are you sure you want to go ahead with this decision, Sparatus?"

Sparatus, once the Turian Councilor, had retired from his position following the complete destruction of the Batarian Hegemony and conquest of Omega, feeling that he was incapable of being Councilor of his people.

By request that was made to the Council of Primachs, he stepped down as Councilor only two days after he returned to Turian space, allowing the Primachs to elect a new one to take his place.

It seemed rather strange, not sitting behind his podium in the Presidium as he continually refuted any of Shepard's claims about the Reapers existense, or vetoeing everything Anderson suggested alongside Tevos when it came to consolidating the Systems Alliance's position in the Citadel Council.

But to him, it felt liberating, having retired from a job he felt he could not handle; it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, allowing him to properly serve the Hierarchy without being bogged down by all the unnecessary bureaucracy the Asari Republics insisted on in politics.

And like many in the UAP and those friendly to them, he felt that the Asari had become far too comfortable on top of the pile; controlling every aspect of Citadel politics, monopolising advanced technology for themselves, and using violent incidents as an excuse to solidify their military power under the Treaty of Farixen.

That Treaty was soon dissolved with the advent of the UAP, most powerful of them all being the Thedosian Empire.

Now, he stood before the Primachs of the Hierarchy, not as Turian Councilor, nor as a Blackwatch operative, but one who would become part of something more.

Nodding his head with determination in his eyes, Sparatus affirmed, "I have made my decision, honoured Primarchs. I'm ready."

Accepting the ex-Councilor's statement, the same Turian Primach then declared, "Sparatus, on our authority and collective decision as the Council of Primarchs, we hereby approve of the formation of the first Turian Knightly Order."

Smiling broadly, Sparatus graciously said, "I won't disappoint you, honoured Primarchs."

It had taken a fair bit of time, Sparatus had to admit, but he was surprised when the Hierarchy approved of the idea of forming the Hierarchy's first Knightly Order, following in the Empire's footsteps; they would have formed a sort of 'Guild', as what the Azerothians called it, but there was a distinct lack of adventurous Turians save the mercenaries that were all but wiped out during the Purge of Omega.

Deciding on the Order's livery and type of weapons used, Sparatus never complained a single bit, entralled by the prospect of the Hierarchy having an Order that had the same privileges as the Spectres had, and with larger numbers than the Spectres themselves.

"Then I can proudly state this now, Grand Master Sparatus," Another Primarch stated with swelling pride in his voice, "That it is time for the Grand Order of the Palavenguard to blossom under your leadership, to fight our enemies and bring honour to the Hierarchy."

Sparatus nodded, "It will be you say, honoured Primarchs."

 **A/N: Yes, the Hierarchy's definitely being inspired by the Empire, and oh, I just love the idea of messing with the Mass Effect universe.**

 **Anyway, I will be taking a short break in order to settle some things on World of Warcraft, before I get the Legion expansion, and I will be a while, having missed a lot in more than a month of inactivity on WoW, so the next chapter will be a while, probably a month or more.**

 **So I thank all of you for your patience, and I will hopefully see you again, as Ebanu8.**

 **Glory to the Hierarchy! Glory to the Grand Order of the Palavenguard!**


	12. War beyond the Veil, part II

**A/N: Back from my hiatus with another chapter for you guys!**

 **Chapter eleven: War beyond the Veil, part II**

With the upload of the rewritting programme complete, all Geth ships were immediately rendered immobile and unable to move an inch, allowing the two ships to focus their fire on the Reaper and Collector ships.

As the _Normandy's_ weapons were not yet upgraded to take down the Reapers' robust kinetic barriers, its crew was content to allow its counterpart, the _Vengeful Sword_ , to take down the barriers to allow the Cerberus ship to finish the job, though the sheer mass of the Reaper ships made it difficult.

Nonetheless, the Reapers found that they could not finish off the interlopers, at least not this time; not while the Heretics suddenly proved unresponsive due to the burst of data they picked up from the Geth station.

Needless to say, the remaining Reaper and Collector ships retreated through the mass relay, in order to replenish their losses and restrategise for the next time they would attempt to erase the nuisance that was Commander Shepard.

The crew of both ships let out jubiliant cheers as they saw their foes abandon the battle, then prepared transports to bring back Amarthathor, Shepard and their respective companions aboard in order to replenish their own losses; the Reapers' sheer numbers tested the limits of each ship, and both had suffered some measure of damage.

Damage to the Normandy was mercifully light, given its thin armor and moderate kinetic barriers. Unfortunately, its Thedosian counterpart fared worse; hull breaches and dents were visible on several parts of the ship, and dozens of turrets damaged beyond use, it was a miracle its vital systems and FTL drive were still intact.

Toby could not help but wince at the sight of the Vengeful Sword's state, though Amarthathor retained a passive expression when he laid eyes on their flagship.

"God, how the hell did she get so banged up?" Toby commented offhandedly in a muted voice.

"No ship is invincible, Master Toby," Amarthathor told him, his Draconian hearing picking up his whisper, "No matter how thick and durable the armor, how advanced the shielding, np ship is nigh impenetrable from any sort of attack."

Toby opened his mouth to retort, then thought better of it when he remembered learning the chaotic history of Dragon Age and the Empire by extension.

As such, he kept silent as the shuttle he and the Emperor were in, along with the surviving Quarian Knights, docked in the Vengeful Sword's hangar bay as the magical fields held it in place, the ramp opening to reveal rows of Knights saluting them, some sporting either light or severe injuries.

As Amarthathor and the others stepped down the ramp, Toby could not help but curl his lips in a mixture of horror and disgust.

What greeted them next was the sight of a few dozen knights being laid to rest, their corpses bearing severe burns that marred their faces beyond recognition or missing a limb or two, white banners of linen covering them as a sign of respect; normally, a Knightly Order would have a sigil adorning their banners, but the Knights of Ethrandir had just been formed about a day or two before, so they had yet to decide on a suitable crest.

There were not only dead Humans, but Dwarves and Elves also added to the count, so did a few Turians as well, their bodies still wearing the Order's silver armor until they could be given proper burials.

Even though such losses were surprisingly light for the Knights and Cerberus team, the Thedosian ship had to undergo immediate repairs before they could venture any further, and Amarthathor hated it when their mission was hindered by such a thing.

Toby tried his hardest not to shed tears at the sight of the dead Knights, but a few stray drops streamed down his cheeks, despite attempting to school his expression.

When he noticed that Amarthathor saw his tears, he quickly wiped them with his arm, though he never forced a smile.

"Is it your first time seeing the corpses of your would-be commrades?" The Dragonkin Emperor said, Toby only managing a wordless nod in response, "You will have to prepare yourself for such sights to be more frequent in the future, Master Toby."

"Just because I know I'm gonna see it later doesn't mean I have to like it," Toby protested.

"No one asked you to, Master Toby, and I do not expect you to be able to adapt in such a short time," The Emperor countered, though he was equally grim faced upon seeing his dead subordinates-no, commrades-in-arms.

"So where shall be our next destination, Amarthathor?" Kal'Reegar asked, casually slinging his sword on his shoulder.

"We shall have to depart for the Terminus System for repairs," Amarthathor said, tapping on his black omni-tool, "We cannot possibly continue our private war with the Reapers' servants with the state of our ship, and I'd prefer to replenish our losses, light as they are."

Toby had to resist the urge to wince at the memory at the damaged beauty of the _Vengeful Sword_ , then made a personal reminder to ask more about the Blademasters in his free time from training.

"Kal'Reegar!" The Emperor called out to the Quarian Greatsword, drawing all attention to him as the former marine stopped in his track.

"Yes, Amarthathor?" Reegar asked, though it was more of a yelp in response.

For a moment, no one said a word, causing the palpable tension in the air to rise considerably.

Amarthathor then said, "Reegar, kneel."

The Quarian looked rather confused at the simple words uttered from the Dragonkin's mouth, but decided to follow his request – though he said it in a more demanding tone, equivalent to the commanding voice of a military officer.

To the Quarians and most of the Turians, they failed to understand the meaning of the Emperor's order. To the Silver Knights that witnessed it though, it was a moment of pride and joy.

Asking a nearby Knight to hand him a longsword, Amarthathor first conjured a gold goblet in his hands, then poured crystal clear water that glistened in its own light into the goblet, walking over to the kneeling Quarian in front of him.

Slowly pouring the glistening water over the Quarian's exposed head, the Emperor then intoned in a reverent, almost ethereal voice unlike his normal baritone in a language alien even to his fellow Thedosians.

" _In life or death, on the battlefield or at the comforts of home, all souls have their own battles to wage, and under the gaze of the Goddess of Life and the Dark God of War, we Knight this young man to prepare him for the next battle._ "

Upon pouring all the water in the goblet over Reegar's head, Amarthathor then took the borrowed longsword and tapped the Quarian with the tip of the sword on both shoulders.

He then said, "For honor in service, for honor in battle. I, Amarthathor Sardothien, raise you. Rise, Silver Knight of Ethrandir."

Amarthathor could not help but smirk at the sight of Reegar gaping with his mouth open upon hearing those words; other than a few Turians, no other soul from the Council or ex-Council races ever received the honor of being granted full Knighthood, so it was a huge surprise for the surviving Quarians who gathered to witness Reegar's Knighting.

Once he managed to straighten out his thoughts, he stood with his back straight, almost threatening to hurt his own spine as he held himself in pride.

The other Knights that were present let out jubiliant cheers at Reegar's induction formal induction into the Knightly Order, while others simply clapped for him.

Raising a fist to silence the cheers, albeit reluctantly as he returned the longsword, Amarthathor began to order in a commanding tone, "Have the Vengeful Sword warp to Omega within the hour, and have the engineers and technicians repair whatever damage can be reversed."

The next command left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Prepare the bodies of our dead brothers and sisters for burial, and give them their last rites. Notify their families of their fates."

Having taken care of the morbid task, Amarthathor could see that Toby moved away from the docking bay and avoided conversation with everyone else, trying his hardest not to shed tears in front of everybody.

Beckoning Meleath closer, he whispered into his ear, "Our friend is in need of counsel. Go tend to Master Toby whilst I organise the Knights."

True enough, as soon as Meleath saw Toby enter one of the private infirmary rooms in the medical bay, his sensitive Elven ears could hear quivering sobs behind the thick, sturdy metal doors that led inside; privately, the Sin'dorei priest was thankful no one else was present, which left him with the complete liberty of tending to Toby's emotional state.

Slowly making his way into the infirmary room, the Blood Elf saw endless streaks of tears coursing down Toby's cheeks as he huddled into an isolated corner away from everyone's eye, his body quaking with every sob.

"Is something troubling you, Toby?" Meleath asked.

Looking up at the priest, his tearful eyes conveyed the pain he was going through, the pain of seeing the bodies of his dead commrades, both on the battlefield and on the ship; it was only about a few dozen bodies at most, but for Toby, a Human Youtuber who had never experienced the horrors of war, it was more than enough to test his resolve.

Meleath said nothing as Toby wrapped his arms around his slender figure, holding him in a comforting embrace.

"Meleath," Toby managed through his sobs, "Why... why the hell do people have to die?"

Closing his eyes in brief sorrow, Meleath answered, "Because it is the nature of war, Master Toby; everyone dies at some point."

"But... but that doesn't mean I have to like it!" Toby cried out, repeating what he said previously to the Emperor, "God, how the hell do you deal with so many dead!?"

"Look at me, Master Toby," Meleath said, this time in a slightly harsher tone as he held the Youtuber's tear-stained face in his slender, yet firm hands, "No one takes pleasure in sending their commrades to their deaths, and we can only hope for the best once they depart for the battlefield. We can only honor their memory as we live for their sakes, for everyone's sake."

Toby nodded, wiping away his tears, "And I thought you would give me the crap about 'enduring the pain to become stronger' or something."

Meleath sighed, removing his hands from Toby's face as he sat on a nearby chair.

"I live to honor the memory of many of my former commrades who now live peacefully in the afterlife," The Blood Elf stated, then his expression soured in sorrow, "I used to have three brothers."

"Oh," Toby said upon hearing the priest mention his family, "Sorry if I-"

"It's an old wound, long faded by the passage of time, but still painful at times," Meleath said, cutting off Toby's apology, "You do not need to apologize."

The Human then moved to a nearby sink, washing his face and bloodshot eyes weary from the crying, and poured himself a cup of water to quench his parched throat; he still did not like war, but he resolved to survive and get through it as best as he could, in order to return home one day.

Happy that Toby had managed to at least calm down, he picked up his staff and proceeded to leave the room when a hand firmly clamped on his arm.

"Hey, Meleath," Toby said as the Blood Elf turned to face him, "Mind if we continue training later, after all the shit's taken care of?"

Smiling, Meleath earnestly replied, "Of course, Master Toby. As long as you need."

IIOII

On the _Normandy_ , there were no cheers or shouts of joy as Shepard and her companions got out of the shuttle that ferried them back to the ship, the crew hurridely moving to prepare the ship for transit to Omega once Joker received the message from Taenith.

Upon boarding the ship's elevator, the Spectre immediately moved to the captain's cabin, where she eagerly took off her armor and bodysuit, then turned on the shower, allowing a continuous stream of warm water to envelop her entire body.

She always appreciated taking care of her hygiene, especially after a battle – however brief it may be – to ruthlessly eradicate any scent of sweat and blood that came with fighting wars.

When she finished cleaning herself, she proceeded to don her Cerberus fatigues and took a nearby book bound in thick, brown leather, its title being _Lord of all Dragonkin_ , inscribed in gold ink.

First recommended to her by the Emperor himself, during her rather hospitable stay in the Empire, she quickly grew engrossed in reading the legendary story depicting the life of Emmanuel Sardothien, the founder of the Thedosian Emperor, and – much to her surprise, the deeds of the Inquisition's head chef who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Written by the long deceased author of that time, Varric Tethras, it had remained a very popularly read piece of literature that was also a piece of history – one of the few remaining snipplets detailing events that actually took place during the Dragon Age – which the Empire treasured since many historical annals dating before the Dragon Age were lost in the ensuing invasion by the long-extinct He'lith.

Shepard felt a pang of sorrow in her heart, the He'lith's ruthless invasion reminding her of the Batarian slavers' invasion of her home of Mindior, to whom she lost her brother and father, though she quickly and visciously tossed aside that sorrow; she still blamed herself for being unable to save them, despite the Empire avenging every death the slaver scum dealt with equally righteous fury.

She heard someone knocking on the door – for which Shepard was thankful, for it made her forget her pain for a moment – with a familiar voice asking, "Commander, you inside?"

"Miranda?" Shepard muttered to herself, before inquiring, "What's up?"

"The Illusive Man wants to see you," The Australian stated, "You know where to speak to him."

Shepard inwardly grumbled; she did not trust the Illusive Man at all, despite his supposed desires to 'aid humanity in any way possible', and he gave a very aloof attitude towards most people, Shepard suspecting some of them to be his lower-ranked subordinates. To top it off, she had barely talked to him for more than a few times, if at all.

Nonetheless, she decided to oblige, and told Miranda, "Got it. Just tell him to wait for me."

After finding her way to the same room fitted with the special transmitter, she stood in the glowing circle in the middle, allowing a series of glowing orange holographic circles to gleam over her entire body. Then, the whole atmosphere changed from a brightly illuminated, bone white room to a dimly lit one overlooking a living star, the celestial body radiating as bright as the day it was made.

Sitting lazily on his expensive, black leather chair, was the Illusive Man, taking sips of scotch whiskey from a glass in one hand and occasional puffs of smoke from a cigratte in another.

"Shepard, I must discuss some things with you, regarding your association with these Knights of the Empire," The Illusive Man said, not bothering to waste words on niecities.

"Yeah? Apart from them turning everything upside down and proving that we're not the only Humans in existense?" Shepard inquired further, noticing that he harbored a modicum of mistrust for said Knights.

"Aside from that? The fact that they're allowing you access to many of their resources and even devoting soldiers to your mission at all is an absolute surprise to say the least," The Illusive Man stated, inhaling a puff of smoke as he continued, "I'm even wondering if they are even acknowledging the fact that Cerberus even sponsored your efforts in the first place."

Shepard had to accept his reasoning, untrustworthy as he was; not once in the whole time she embarked on this mission did any of the Knights even refute her association with Cerberus, or even mention it as a matter of fact.

Regardless, Shepard said, "Hey, at least I've got good company for the ride, and to make my job a whole lot easier."

The Illusive Man only nodded, sipping his expensive whiskey as he slowly savoured the taste of the strong beverage.

"You seem awfully optimistic, despite all the events that have occurred in less than a few months," He commented, not taking offense to Shepard's nonchalant shrug at his statement.

"At least the Knights are rather friendly to most people, along with most UAP guys," Shepard stated in response, then shifted rather uncomfortably, which was immediately noticed by the Cerberus leader, "Though I might have to doubt whether it was good to bring along those... Zerg and Rachni with us."

The Illusive Man had to repress a shudder at the mention of the Zerg; the rumors he heard about the Zerg were extremely unpleasant, making him wonder why the Empire even allied with them in the first place, though he took notice of the palpable tension between the UAP leaders, especially between the leaders of the Korprulu Alliance.

From bioorganic pestilences turning people into living zombies that devoured their own former kind to huge swarms of monsters overwhelmig even the mightiest of defenses, all these rumors, combined with what limited videographic evidence they managed to salvage compounded the belief that the Zerg were an epidemic that needed to be erased from the face of the galaxy.

Though Shepard was not frightened of the Zerg or Rachni in general, the latter having only acted out of mental domination in the past, she still could not help but feel uncomfortable whenever she was near one of them, despite most of the UAP having mostly no problems working with them; she even saw a few Knights using Zerglings as mounts since they were serving as calvary units.

It was something the Illusive Man could agree with Shepard on – at least in part, perhaps the only thing they would ever agree on.

"Forget that for now, Shepard," The Illusive Man stated, "I have a new task for you, once you have replenished your losses."

"I'm listening," Shepard said, even as she thought, _This better be important._

Harrumphing, the Illusive Man then said, "I've received reports of the Blue Suns causing quite a stir in the Terminus System, capturing any wanted criminal they could find and placing them in cyrostasis aboard their prison ship, the _Purgatory_ , and then selling them to the highest bidder whenever and wherever possible."

Shepard could hear the Cerberus leader snort in disdain at mentioning the mercenary group, "They've created much trouble for Cerberus – even though they are unaware of it – and I'd like to see them disappear from the face of the galaxy."

"And I'm assuming you want me and my new friends to take out the ship?" Shepard asked, guessing the Illusive Man's intentions.

"Spot on, Shepard," The older man stated, "I believe more than a few would be happy to see the Blue Suns pay a price for their horrible deeds."

Shepard nodded, though she could not help but have a bad feeling, even if she did not know the cause.

IIOII

Erlan was busy sipping on a glass of Elven herbal mead with a scowl on his face, terrifying the poor Turian bartender behind the counter as he tried to avert his gaze from the Elven Grand Master.

"This is the bloody fourth time I've had to deal with those loathsome Asari anti-AI fanatics," He grumbled as he slammed the glass' contents down his throat, ordering another refill.

"Hey, chill," A masculine, gruff-looking Human male said next to him, "At least you don't have to waste precious time tracking them down, yeah?"

"That does not make the job any more satisfying now, does it Zaeed?" Erlan retorted, "Not when you cannot cut the head off the snake to end this whole foolishness in the first place."

Said man beside Erlan was rather burly and fit for someone his age; his face bore a few wrinkles, and a wicked looking scar marred his right cheek. His very short, cropped brown hair bore strands of grey, though his chiseled facial features and strong jaw belied his years in action, as did his milky white eye – which went blind during one of his more unfortunate jobs.

"Ah, shut it Erlan," Zaeed waved off Erlan's retort, "At least that damn annoying Asari Councilor's not sponsoring them or anything, so it makes the job much easier now, doesn't it?"

Huffing to himself, he poured the glass of mead down his throat, ordering the poor Turian bartender to once again fill his glass.

Ever since the Blademasters of Andarath had laid claim to Omega, they wasted no time in fortifying their hold on the station and establishing it as their primary – and only – stronghold in the known galaxy. The whole infrastructure of the station was being renovated from both within and without, upgrading all public amenities and defense systems, and where there was once a mercenary fleet jealously guarding their haven from any unwanted guests, now there was a veritable armada of cerulean ships emblazoned with the symbol of the Blademasters – twin-crossed swords overlaying a round shield – standing vigil over their territory.

The Afterlife bar had also undergone radical changes; gone were the numerous poles and booths where customers or other patrons would watch Asari strippers – dressed in extremely revealing bodysuits, as their jobs required of them – dance alluringly in front of them and paid for their services, including those of the more... intimate kind.

Now, they were replaced by fountains fashioned from intricately carved marble, bearing the elegance and sturdiness made by the hands of Thedosian stonemasons in their carvings and magical runes glowing from within the fountains' depts.

From the top of the fountains gushed forth streams of crystal clear water that glittered on their own, emitting a very dim, but very captivating turquoise glow of their own, adding to the tranquil ambience of the bar-turned-tavern.

Even with his relative inexperience in the arts of war – given that he was born after the Eternal war, Erlan could easily see why it would be hard for any invader to conquer Afterlife, now renamed the Mercenary's Folly; in the case any enemy were to invade the station of Omega, the whole tavern could easily be fortified into a sturdy fortress due to its structural layout and position.

With a stronghold and population centre in the Terminus system under their dominion, they were able to replenish whatever losses they sustained and strengthened their ranks considerably; once they numbered little more than thirty thousand. Now, their ranks swelled to over seventy-five thousand, more than half their original number.

Of course, that did not mean their reign was unchallenged; less than half of the station's original inhabitants – with a few Humans and Turians in the mix – who had become used to Aria's iron rule rebelled against Erlan's rise to power, unwilling to accept the presense of any UAP affiliated forces on their home.

As many expected, the rebels had failed miserably, though the Blademasters refrained from killing any of them, unwilling to worsen their strained relations with Omega's old inhabitants.

It did little to quell the unrest, though the locals were discouraged from any further rebellion.

And among the non-xenophobic Turians and Humans the Blademasters recruited into their ranks, was Zaeed Massani.

Zaeed was a veteran of the First Contact war between the Systems Alliance and Turian Hierarchy, who then founded the Blue Suns – a predominantly Human mercenary gang – with his confidant, Vido Santiago.

Few know about what caused the schism in the Blue Suns' leadership, but it ended up with Zaeed being exiled from the Suns in shame, while Vido assumed sole leadership of the mercenaries.

"Honestly, for the anti-AI radicals to be able to suddenly gain the advantage over C-Sec forces and most of the Council military," Erlan mused loudly enough for only Zaeed to hear, "I cannot shake the feeling that an insider is aiding them."

Zaeed only harrumphed, "Well, I'd be more worried about that insider than any of the anti-A.I's enemies; if the rumors about you Knights or vigilantes are true, God help them all."

At the ex-Suns leader's words, Erlan only smirked in response.

The Elf's smirk quickly vanished when a Dwarven Knight Initiate ran into the ex-stripper bar towards him, panting heavily as he stopped to catch his breath.

"Grand Master, fighting has erupted in the civilian districts! More than a few Turians and Thedosian civilians are caught in the middle!" He reported hastily in an American accent, indicating his Thedosian descent.

Erlan quickly put down his glass and paid the bartender a handful of gold coins for his services, much to the Turian's surprise and astonishment – most likely because he was not expecting to be paid such obsolete currency, and quickly ordered, "Mobilise our Knights to police these rioters and keep non-combatants out of the fray! If need be, utilise sleep spells to sudbue them until they calm down!"

"At once, Grand Master!" The Dwarf acknowledged the order as he ran off.

Erlan quickly moved to arm himself with his weapons, a longbow and curved hiltless longsword fashioned out of crystal, the latter imbuned with a string of Thedosian Elvish and detailed carvings of howling wolves glowing a bright turquoise, causing Zaeed to raise an eyebrow at the Elf's obsession over archaic weaponry as he himself cocked the firing mechanism of his own sniper rifle.

Though given that he was of the Thedosian Empire, that was notorious for utilising magic, swords and some sort of magic-infused technology, he was in no position to comment on it at all.

Without delaying by so much as a second, they rushed towards the thick of the fighting, where some civilians undoubtedly needed their immediate aid.

IIOII

"Bastard!"

"Thedosian whore!"

"Leave him be, you intolerant cowards!" An Elven woman bellowed as she smacked the pommel of her sword into the face of a Salarian man, breaking where his nose would be and nearly blinding him through eye injury, protecting the Turian whom she loved.

It was a fairly rare sight, to have Turians falling in love with people of other races, the Asari being the prime exception until now. Said Elven woman had met him by chance a few days before now, their relationship having just started to blossom when a few intolerant mobsters began surrounding them and nearly beating her boyfriend to death had she not intervened.

Said Turian was lying on the floor moaning in pain, suffering from a broken arm and a severe bruise to the face, laying helplessly as he watched his love fearlessly defend their relationship with a grace beffiting all of her race – something he was privately fond of.

The mobsters – a mixture of Salarians, Asari, Turians and Humans – began to charge her position once again, only to be expertly incapacitated by her skill with the sword, the flat side of the blade or the pommel striking their vulnerable nerve clusters or faces, rendering them incapable of striking back, though some ignored their injuries and continued to hound her.

One of them, a Human wielding an omni-blade, tried to deliver the killing blow so that they could finish the job with the 'traitor' Turian once they killed his love in front of his eyes.

Unfortunately for him, the Elfin woman was no slouch in combat, and she parried the omni-blade with her sword, the monomecular blade sliding off the sword and doing no damage, shocking all those who witnessed it – the injured Turian included – and hit his face with the pommel with so much force that it broke his nose and caused him to tumble backwards onto the floor.

Rather than cower at the sight of their badly injured commrade, the mobsters were enraged, and attempted to tackle her to the ground, when they heard animalistic snarls coming from behind them.

They stopped in their tracks and saw a number of werewolves garbed in the same sapphire-encrusted stone grey armor as the vigilantes that surrounded them, snarling loudly as if daring them to make another move on the couple they surrounded before they became the werewolves' next feast.

Some of them howled loudly, forcing all of them to relinquish their objective of murdering the couple out of fear they would become victims of hapless slaughter, whilst some of them helplessly wet their pants.

What they did not know, however – at least in that moment, that these vigilantes were bound by honor to not dirty their blades with their blood, and honor was gold in their society.

One of them, probably their leader as he wore a gold-lined, cerulean battle surcoat, stepped foward with a scowl on his face as he confronted all the mobsters, grabbing one of them by the neck with so much strength he nearly snapped the neck, the helpless mobster only surviving thanks to a huge amount of restraint on the leader's part.

"Your people are to not instigate any further riots over such trivial things any longer, or you will face Thedosian justice that is far harsher than you could ever fathom, understand me!?" Erlan demanded as his irises turned a golden amber, his pupils becoming slits like those of animals of the wild, his teeth changing into sharp fangs capable of drawing copious amounts of blood.

Nodding wordlessly as he prayed for his dear life, the helpless mobster crumpled to the floor as Erlan ordered the rest of the Blademasters to seize all the mobsters and drag them away to the prison complex, making his way over to the couple that had been attacked by them.

"Are you alright, _ma falon?_ " Erlan asked the Elven woman who was nursing both facial bruises and her Turian love's broken arm, an emerald glow from her hand healing whatever damage he had suffered.

Said Elf stood up straight and immediately addressed Erlan, "I am fine, Grand Master Erlan, though I worry for _ma vhenan_ ; I am unsure as to whether these intolerant cowards will truly lay down their arms."

Erlan had to pinch the bridge of his nose to stave off the inpending headache; changing a society's ideology, especially one that was xenophobic, was much harder than he thought without the aid of mind-altering magic.

"Take the Turian to an infirmary. The healers can tend to his injuries whilst the rest of the Blademasters quell the various riots," Erlan ordered, to which the Elfin woman nodded before soothingly assuring her love that they would be alright, all the while allowing two of her fellow Blademasters to carry him on a stretcher.

Zaeed could only sigh; he had been to Omega plenty of times in his life as a mercenary, and he'd seen many of the inhabitants pick a fight with others just for some stupid reasons he did not even care to remember, but his heart nearly broke at the sight of the Elven woman tending to the Turian being carried away on a stretcher.

It reminded him of his youth, when he had fallen head over heels for a woman the same species as him, and she died at the hands of Asari mercenaries belonging to Eclipse, a predominant Asari group under the command of a sadistic Asari by the name of Jona Sideris.

He also saw that though the architecture of the station changed both within and without, the local populace was as xenophobic as the days of old, even before Aria's reign of terror over the station.

"Some things just never change," The old man muttered to himself, Erlan's ears picking up his words.

A few beeps rang from the Grand Master's omni-tool, informing him of an incoming transmission as a forest green glow materisalised on his left arm.

"This is Grand Master Erlan Hequinal, of the Blademasters of Andarath," The Elf said in an imposing voice, "Speak."

" _Is that how you speak to your Cousin-in-law, Erlan?_ " A familiar voice said as he faked mockery in his voice.

Rolling his eyes, Erlan drawled, "As a matter of fact, it is, my dear _Cousin_. What brings you here to my stronghold, Amarthathor?"

" _I shall get straight to the point then,_ " The fake mockery disappearing from Amarthathor's voice, " _I need urgent repairs for my ship, as I and my entourage have just come under attack from a force of Reapers and and their Collector puppets._ "

That made Erlan narrow his eyebrows in seriousness; this was the second time the Reapers and their servants made a daring attack on a Thedosian force, and directed at the Emperor himself, no less.

"Then I shall assign a team of Master Engineers to repair the damage done, though I must-" Whatever else Erlan was about to say was cut off when he heard what sounded like a woman shreiking briefly on the other side of the comms channel.

" _Ow! Stop that!_ " The woman, bearing a Japanese accent, shrieked loudly, almost enough to hurt Erlan's sensitive pointed ears.

" _You stop!_ " An Elven man chatised in a deep baritone, Erlan recognising the voice as Meleath's, " _Who's fault was it for trying to so brazenly sneak aboard the flagship of a Knightly Order such as ours?_ "

" _It's not like it's the end of the world,_ " The Japanese woman pointed out, then Erlan heard a sound that sounded suspiciously like a staff rapping her head.

" _Behave,_ " The Elven man ordered, " _We still have not determined your true intentions; honestly, I consider it a miracle that you have managed to hide within the boughs of our ship undetected, even with the Dragonkin's keen sense of smell._ "

Erlan sighed heavily out of irritation, then told Amarthathor, "Tell Meleath that I would like to see the woman that you have supposedly captured, Amarthathor. I shall be awaiting her at the Mercenary's Folly."

" _Very well then, Erlan._ Dareth shiral _._ "

"Yggdrasil guide your spirit, cousin," Erlan intoned as the connection was cut, leaving him alone with Zaeed as he gripped his rifle tightly, just as several more fires broke out across the civilian wards.

"Don't think those racist bastards are gonna wait for us, aren't they?" The aged mercenary said with a wicked grin.

Erlan's own menacing grin far surpassed that of Zaeed's, his teeth morphing into fangs that unsettled the old mercenary slightly.

"Let us take to the streets, Zaeed," Erlan said, his grin never fading, "We have rioters to disperse."

"Right behind you, Elly," Zaeed jokingly said as he dashed off, leaving Erlan raising an eyebrow at the nickname he was just given.

 _Am I forever fated to be addressed as Elly by him in the near future?_ The Elven Grand Master wondered, then decided to run after him with his weapon drawn.

IIOII

When the damaged _Vengeful Sword_ arrived at Omega with the _Normandy_ , the latter's crew and Toby, along with the woman who was captured by the Silver Knights, could not help but gape in awe of the newly-rebuilt Omega after Aria's demise.

Where once there were ramshackle buildings with dim lights glowing the colour of yellow cat vomit, making for a truly sorry sight to look at, now there were great, tall spires of gold and obsidian, all bearing different styles of architecture from different cultures including the odd Japanese-style pavilions and the banner of the Blademasters draped across several buildings. If one were to look closer, they could see massive crystal pylons floating above many tall buildings and at the underbelly of the station itself, their turquoise glow illuminating the darkness of space.

The fleet itself only added to the sheer majesty of the rebuilt station, an avalanche of cerulean and stone grey standing guard over their new stronghold, the ships more numerous and battle-ready than any mercenary group ever to exist.

"Woah..." Was all Toby could mutter as he stared at the new Omega, which looked completely different from the Omega he saw in his video games, "This place looks so awesome..."

"I must agree with you Toby," Meleath said as he stood beside him with a smile, "Though Blood Elven architecture is not far from the quality work of Thedosian Master builders, they would certainly give them a run for their money."

"That, my friend, is the marvel of Thedosian architecture," Amarthathor said with a hint of pride as he stepped into view, now wearing his black armor and a gold-trimmed, silver battle surcoat that allowed his Dragon head-shaped pauldrons to move without restrictions.

"Yeah, I know," Toby said nonchantly, "But the damn station just looks so cool! It's even better than any city I've seen in all those games I played!"

It was only a matter of truth; when Toby played the game of Warcraft, he had seen many great cities designed by Blizzard Entertainment. The High Elven realm of Quel'thalas, the Dwarven city of Ironforge, the Draenei home of Exodar, yet none could ever compare to the sight his eyes were feasting on as of now.

Toby could hear someone whistle behind him, his head turning to Shepard who was wearing her Cerberus fatigues and admiring the sight just like him.

"So this is the new Omega," Shepard mused loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear, then chuckled slightly, though no humour was behind it, "Can't believe you guys could change so much in just a few weeks."

"So mind if you could release me right about now, please?" The Japanese woman asked politely, "I don't really like being tied up for too long, for your info."

Said woman was garbed in a contrasting white and black bodysuit covering her entire body, a cowl shadowing the top half of her face, though a line of purple was visible on her bottom lip, both lips forming a scowl as she struggled against the ghostly-glowing emerald cuffs placed on her hands.

"Is that really all you have to say, Kasumi?" Amarthathor said as he turned towards the Japanese woman, "You snuck aboard my ship without anyone's knowledge, and even managed to evade my keen senses until now. How do you think I should judge you, hmm?"

Toby and Shepard found Kasumi's punishment to be rather harsh, but if their limited time spent with Thedosians was any indication, it was that they took their security extremely seriously, especially after having survived one of the most hellish wars no one thought fathomable.

"Like I said, I had no idea the Emperor himself was on board the ship," Kasumi protested, "I just came to offer the famed Commander Shepard the services of the best thief in the galaxy."

Toby showed slight surprise at Amarthathor being addressed as Emperor, but decided to leave whatever questions he had later, knowing the current mood of the situation was on incredibly thin ice, and that Amarthathor knew what he was guessing as well; at least, he thought the Dragonkin did.

Kasumi cleared her throat before adding, "Well, at least in this galaxy, not in the UAP's."

"And I believe you need me to do something in exchange?" Shepard asked, as if reading Kasumi's intentions.

Nodding her head, all eyes on the Japanese woman now, she then stated, her earlier irritation replaced by a serious demeanour, "I'm currently trying to steal a graybox from a notorious weapons dealer and smuggler, Donovan Hock, but I can't do it alone due to the Eclipse mercs he's hired as additional security to deter... unwanted people."

They all nodded, accepting her reasoning, as Shepard said, "So you snuck aboard the ship, hoping to elicit my help."

"And in exchange, you get the help of a Master Thief for whatever mission you're currently doing right now," Kasumi finished, sighing in annoyance at how durable her restraints were.

"Donovan Hock..." Amarthathor muttered darkly, his menacing aura frightening Kasumi as she swalloed her saliva nervously, buckets of sweat dripping down her forehead, "That damn bastard has supplied mercenary bands that oppose the Empire with quality weapons time and again, hampering our efforts in securing the Terminus System."

"And through his efforts, at least a quarter-dozen Turian patrols who were ambushed were wiped out with little difficulty," Meleath added, his eyes burning with righteous anger at the reports he had received, "This is an opportunity to avenge those fallen Turians."

"And to cut the head off the snake," Aldrige added, having remained silent for the whole time, "But I do not believe that Donovan will take us so lightly, especially with us as new factors that may throw his plans into disarray."

"He's right, Emperor," Kasumi affirmed, "Donovan may be a huge son of a bitch, but he's not stupid. It's one of the main reasons he's managed to avoid being arrested the whole time."

The Dragonkin Emperor only let out an animalistic snarl, betraying his true nature as his crimson orbs briefly flashed a golden amber.

"I do not care in the slightest on whatever trait he has, be it clairvoyance or foresight," Amarthathor said with disdain lacing his voice, "I only wish for his head on a spike, as my honour demands he dies for his crimes."

The cold, heartless cruelty in the part-Dragonkin's words sent shivers down the spines of the non-Empire Humans and Quarians present, as they saw their fellow Knights or commrades narrow their eyes in anger and indignant fury, making them wonder just what did they have in store for Donovan and his lackeys.

Harrumphing loudly to break the silence, Amarthathor then said, "We shall discuss how to assault Donovan's base of operations later. For now, we shall nourish ourselves at the Mercenary's Folly whilst our ship undergoes repair."

He then turned to face Kasumi, whose hands were freed of the restraints that suddenly disappeared with a wave of his hand, and then told her, "There is someone who wants to meet you at the Mercenary's Folly, Kasumi. Be sure that you do not delay in the slightest."

Kasumi could only wordlessly nod, unsure as to the unknown character who was expectantly waiting to meet the Master Thief who just achieved what few dared to do.

IIOII

When Kasumi along with some of Shepard's crew and the Silver Knights stepped beyond the doors leading into what was once called Omega, they could not help but be astounded by the total makeover of the whole building.

Crystal pylons glowed brightly, illuminating the entire tavern in a calming light compared to the aggressive avalanche of colours that Afterlife used to have, a huge tree dominating where dance poles used to be, small fountains gushing out crystal clear water that glittered on its own.

All around the tavern, Thedosians of all races – garbed in the colours of the Blademasters or wearing simple but finely-tailored clothing – were mingling with one another, chatting animatedly while willingly drinking themselves into a stupor, feasting on gastronomic delights made for the common palate, playing games of Dragonstone or Hearthstone, or all three of the above at the same time.

Immediately, the Quarian Knights were unsure as to whether they would actually blend in well with the ambience of the place, given the rather boisterous atmosphere that was present before them, though Shepard encouraged them to at least try their best.

As the Quarians did their utmost to fit into the ambience, Shepard accompanied Kasumi as they moved to where one man of great importance – other than the Emperor – would be waiting for them, Kasumi unsure about this new character they were about to meet, other than him being the Emperor's cousin-in-law through marriage.

Nearing their designated meeting place – a balcony overlooking the entire tavern, the duo could see an Elven, blonde-haired man garbed in forest green and silvery white gossamer fabric fashioned into simple, yet practical traveler's garb, his slender features focused in contemplation whatever the duo could imagine as he sipped a glass of dark, earthy wine, savouring the strong alcoholic taste it imparted onto his tongue.

Standing guard at the entrance to the balcony were two other Blademasters, wearing ornately-crafted, immaculate armor in their order's colours, the insignia tailored on the shamrock tabard secured over their breastplates by their belts. Each held an equally ornate shield and spear – the latter looking rather large and slightly unwieldy in the duo's eyes, in their opinions – in their hands.

Each looked terrifying in their own right, the fact only compounded by the terrifying visage of their helmets which were shaped into dragon heads transfixed in an eternal state of roaring in anger.

As they spotted the duo approaching, they barred their passage with their massive halberds, causing both of the to tense, Shepard assuming a battle-ready stance before one of them said in a quasi-monotone voice, "Before you pass any further, I must ask if you have business with the Grand Master."

Both blinked their eyes in surprise, not expecting the information they were given. They were meeting with the Grand Master of the Blademasters?

Exactly just why did the Emperor love to be vague about certain things, but incredibly informative about others?

It seemed an eternal mystery which was doomed to never be solved.

Now that they thought about it, the Silver Knights had not yet decided on an official Grand Master of their own to lead the order as of yet, though it was understandable given how young it was.

The two women then heard the immaculately dressed Elf then say to the guards, "I have business with them. Let them pass."

"Yes, Grand Master," The guards acknowledged as they moved their spears away, allowing the duo to pass.

Kasumi was rather shocked at the information she just received; they were meeting with the Grand Master of one of the many Thedosian Vigilante bands scattered throughout the galaxy? And the very same one that violently ousted Aria from her throne of power in the Terminus System, to boot.

She could not help but fidget nervously where she stood, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she fought to keep a neutral, unafraid facade with each step they took towards the now identified Grand Master of the Blademasters of Andarath.

Both took a seat opposite him, the Elf smirking as he took another sip of his dark, earthy wine, eyeing the two with a critical gaze as he scrutinised every detail of the two women before him.

After a few seconds that seemed to stretch into hours, the Elf then asked Kasumi in an accent that seemed to be mixed European accents, "You, you are the famed Master Thief in your corner of the galaxy, notorious from stealing from every unsavoury character you know of, yes?"

Kasumi could only gulp nervously as she nodded, slightly unnerved by the brief flashing of amber eyes in the Grand Master's earthy brown orbs.

"And you," The Elf turned to face Shepard, "The famed Commander Jennefer Shepard, renowned for her efforts in eliminating the rouge Spectre Saren Arterius and saving the _Destiny Ascension_ from complete destruction during a rather devastating attack made on the Citadel by an 'unknown' ship only known as Sovereign."

Shepard could hear the Elf snarl – in the complete same manner as a real wolf would – at mentioning the Reaper ship as 'unknown'; she could not blame him, since the Council would always dismiss whatever warnings she had as no more than purely fabricated nonsense.

Her attention was brought back to the Elf before her as he harrumphed, continuing where he left off, "You then gained recognition for hunting down several Heretic Geth bands as you were forced away from the front lines, but then supposedly died in an ambush by the Collectors, only to be revived by Cerberus for... unknown reasons."

Setting down his glass of wine on the table before them, the Elf then chuckled slightly, before saying, "You two certainly deserve your reputation, though you have my condolences, Shepard. I fairly wish these other Councilors would actually listen to you for once."

He then bowed his head slightly, before saying, "I am Erlan Hequinal, Grand Master of the Blademasters of Andarath, as you now know. What brings you so far from home, Kasumi Goto?"

Kasumi raised an eyebrow at the mention of her family name, "How do you know my full name?"

Erlan only smirked in fake arrogance at that, "The Extranet is incredibly gullible to hacking attempts by our ."

His smirk quickly disappeared, though, as his expression became gravely serious.

"Tell me, what business do you have with Donovan Hock?" Erlan inquired, his eyes holding Kasumi's captive in fear.

"Like I said-" Kasumi began but was cut off by the Elf.

"I can tell you have a personal greviance against him, Kasumi," He pointed out, holding up a hand to forestall any complaints from either of the women, "We Thedosians are more perceptive than you think."

The Japanese thief opened her mouth to retort, then closed it shut as she realised he was right; she needed that graybox out of Donovan's hands, as it contained some things precious to her.

Precious memories of the one she loved.

Fighting a pang of sorrow in her heart, she then explained, "That graybox... it has many secrets I can't really say out loud in the open, and memories of... our good times together, before we encountered Donovan during one of our heists."

Shepard could tell Kasumi was having a hard time keeping her emotions at bay; it reminded her of the times when she was unable to stop the torrent of emotions flooding her heart when the pain of losing her brother and father was still fresh.

Erlan relaxed a little, allowing Kasumi a little breathing space as she tried to calm herself.

Heedless of the two of them, Kasumi then said, "We tried to steal his cache of illegally-accquired weapons when my partner... and then I had to leave him and the graybox behind... so.."

A single tear trickled down her face, Erlan's features softening upon seeing her distressed emotional state.

"I have heard enough, Kasumi," Erlan stated, causing Kasumi's tear-stained eyes to focus on him, "You need not say anymore."

Thankful, Kasumi wiped the tears from her eyes as Erlan diverted his focus to Shepard.

He had to admit, when he scrutinised the Human Spectre before her, he could immediately tell she was no stranger to combat, given her posture and body movement, even when the guards blocked their passage.

He could also perceive heavy sorrow and guilt in her eyes, the look that most soldiers would have if they felt they failed to save their commrades from danger.

"I heard that you were currently working with Cerberus to combat the Collector threat, before you encountered the UAP," Erlan commented, causing Shepard's eyes to narrow slightly, as if she was expecting him to criticise her association with the notorious organisation, "Given its reputation, however, I have to question just why my cousin-in-law even allowed some of the organisation's members to even work with my people – Knights, even – despite that."

"Yeah, I-" Shepard opened her mouth to retort before the meaning of Erlan's words hit her.

He was right, Cerberus always preached against working with alien species, even those so-called 'alien symphatisers' since the day of its creation.

So just why did the Emperor even allow a band of the Empire's knights to support their mission in the first place?

This smelt too much of underlying motives, he was sure of it; she made a mental note to ask more about it from Amarthathor when she had the opportunity.

"Nonetheless, I am confident you shall gain the answers you seek in time," Erlan said, derailing Shepard's train of thought as she focused on the Elven Grand Master, "Now to discuss how we shall deal with Donovan Hock."

Both women nodded as Kasumi brought up her omni-tool and a holo-projector, typing a few commands on the holographic wrist-mounted device to display an image of a typical Human-style mansion.

"This is where Donovan keeps all his accquired valubles, in a very secure vault on the colony of Bekenstein," Kasumi explained as she changed the image being displayed to show the inner workings of the mansion, "The bastard's organising a get-together party and is inviting all the notorious characters in my part of the galaxy, where he's going to perform his latest transaction of smuggled weapons to date."

"I'm guessing he doesn't want any party poopers to ruin it," Shepard said, Kasumi nodding in response.

"He'll have a shit ton of mechs and hired Eclipse mercs guarding every nook and crany of the place while the transaction takes place, so I can't do it all alone, even with my skills," Kasumi explained.

"Which brings you here, to enlist the aid of the famed Commander Shepard to retrieve this graybox and keep it out of Donovan's hands," Erlan finished for her, his lips forming a scowl.

"That's right, though I didn't expect to run into the Emperor himself in the process," Kasumi admitted, a slight blush forming on her cheeks, "Anyway, I already have plans in place to break inside the mansion. If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to make it out of the mansion with little trouble."

Erlan nodded, though he asked Kasumi, "Do you not wish to avenge your lover's death?"

That made Kasumi freeze, who had given no thought to taking Donovan's life.

"No... I-I never thought about it," Kasumi said, uncertainty clouding her heart.

Erlan then took a bottle of wine and emptied its contents into two wine glasses, offering them to the duo.

"Fen'harel's embrace, some of the finest grape wine brewed by Thedosian Elves," Erlan stated, explaining for their sakes.

They had been told by Amarthathor that drinking was one of the Thedosian Empire's most favourite pastimes aside from playing card games and sparring, and were warned of the potency of Thedosian drinks; they were much stronger than whatever liquor the Council races could ever brew.

Wordlessly, they nodded their thanks and cautiously took a small sip of the wine. Immediately, the Elven wine they tasted put every other drink they had to shame.

"Wow," Shepard was the first to recover, blinking at the surprisngly high alcoholic content for grape wine in general, "That is some _strong_ wine."

"It is, is it not?" Erlan affirmed, then proceeded to take a sip from his glass, then set it down after finishing the very last drops, standing up as he said to the two, "Take the rest of the night off. You will need adequate energy to retrieve the graybox."

Just as Erlan began to walk away, however, Shepard stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait!" She shouted, thankful that the noisy ambience of the place drowned out her voice.

Though Erlan never turned to face her, he acknowledged her by asking, "What is it, Commander Shepard?"

"Why are you even showing interest in the first place?" Shepard demanded, "Why help us?"

Tightening his bare hands into fists, Erlan then gave Shepard a scowl as he answered, "Because he murdered my love."

Kasumi had been slightly shocked at the revelation, and said nothing more as the Elven Grand Master walked away, leaving them alone at the balcony overlooking the tavern.

For the rest of the night, neither of them really indulged themselves in drinking sprees or sessions of playing Dragonstone or Hearthstone like most of the others, just absent-mindedly sipping away at their drinks as they took the time to relax, though she could see the Quarian Greatswords lying on the floors in a drunken stupor, Kal'Reegar muttering incoherent language as he lay unconscious next to a pile of beer glasses that had been emptied of their contents minutes prior.

When Shepard went to sleep in her allocated room – which was spartan yet filled with standard, if albeit ornate furniture, she quickly went to sleep, thankful of the comfortable bed she was graced with sleeping on.

IIOII

"John!"

Shepard woke violently from her nightmare, wishing that it would just banish itself from the depts of her mind already. Panting and sweating heavily, she quickly got out of her bed to wash her face, which did little to calm her nerves.

Performing her daily routine of cleaning herself and eating her breakfast, she found the morning to be rather peaceful, despite the outside atmosphere remaining the same in her eyes.

She was just about to find her way back to the _Vengeful Sword_ when war horns sounded throughout the station, and Shepard could see Blademasters shuffling throughout the station as they directed all civilians away to the deeper parts of the station.

To Shepard, this could only mean one thing.

Quickly donning her armor and getting her weapons, she rushed outside the station dashing to the nearest vantage point to get a good look of just who was attacking Omega now.

She saw dozens of merc ships, all bearing the insignias of different merc groups opening fire on the Blademasters' ships stationed as the defense fleet, a hail of Eezo slugs pelting the Thedosian ships to little effect, though it seemed the mercs hardly cared about this fact.

She had no time to ponder about the mercs' intentions as of now.

The invasion had begun.

 **A/N: I must sorely apologise at the amount of time I took to upload this chapter, but nonetheless, I have done it!**

 **So I do plan to do the loyalty mission for Kasumi in Mass Effect 2, just with a few twists to it, and spoiler alert, I have other plans for the Master Thief afterwards.**

 **I thank those who have remained faithful to this story, and until then, this is Ebanu8.**

 **If you need rest, do so with a cup of Fenharel's Embrace.**


	13. Update

So this is an update, and I must say this now: I am totally stopping progress on this story.

Why, you may ask? That's because I feel I've just been rushing through this story in the later parts and I've been trying too hard then, so I feel I've sort of ruined the drive I had in writing this fanfic.

But I won't be abandoning this story, no matter what, the reason being that this is one story I truly want to finish by myself without quitting, but I won't be rewritting it any time soon as I will need to take a break. A very long break.

To make it up, however, I will start on a new story – one I originally planned to do once I was finished with this fanfic – as soon as my break ends.

So I thank those who understand and have been following my stories.

And until then, this is Ebanu8.


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